Distance Learning: Principles For Effective Design, Delivery, and Evaluation

Distance Learning:
Principles for Effective

Design, Delivery, and
Evaluation
Chandra Mohan
Mehrotra
Copyright © 2001 by Sage Publications, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Mehrotra, Chandra.
Distance learning: Principles for effective design, delivery, and
evaluation / by Chandra Mehrotra, C. David Hollister, and Lawrence
McGahey.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.
ISBN 0-7619-2088-9 (c) — ISBN 0-7619-2089-7 (p)
1. Distance education—Curricula. 2. Education, Higher—Curricula.

3. Instructional systems—Design. I. Hollister, C. David. II. McGahey,
Lawrence. III. Title.
LC5800 .M44 2001
378.1’75—dc21 2001002978
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
02 03 04 05 06 07 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Acquisition Editor: Jim Brace-Thompson

Editorial Assistant: Karen Ehrmann
Production Editor: Sanford Robinson
Editorial Assistant: Cindy Bear
Typesetter/Designer: Tina Hill
Cover Designer: Sandra Ng
Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Introduction ix
Background and Audience x
Overview of the Contents xi
Our Companion Web Site xii
1. Distance Education: What Is It?
And Why Is It Expanding So Rapidly? 1
Impacts of Technology on Distance Education 2
The Prevalence of Distance Education in the United States 4
Societal Changes Contributing to the
Growth of Distance Education 6
The Impact of Distance Education on Traditional Instruction 9
Criticisms of Distance Education 11
Conclusion 13
2. Attracting Students to Distance Learning 15
How to Assess the Need and Demand for a
Distance Program 16
Target Audience 19
Instructional Design and Mode of Delivery 20
Strategies for Marketing Distance Courses and Programs 21
Specific Ideas for Promoting and Marketing
Distance Programs 23
Conclusion 27
3. Good Practices in Distance Education:
How to Promote Student Learning and
Development 29
The Good Practices 31
Summary Tips 50
4. The Syllabus for Distance Learning Courses 53
What Is a Syllabus? 54
More Than a List 55
Outline for a Syllabus: Putting It Together 56
Other Issues 66
Summary Tips 67
5. Delivery Methods for Distance Education 69
Synchronous or Asynchronous? 70
Synchronous Delivery Methods 72
Asynchronous Delivery Methods 76
Conclusion 88
6. Selecting Delivery Methods 95
Fundamental Principles to Observe in
Selecting Delivery Methods 96
A Decision Tree Approach to Selecting a Delivery Method 105
Conclusion 109
7. Support Services 115
Support Services Prior to Enrollment 118
Support Services for Enrolled Students 124
Support Services After Course or Program Completion 132
Summary 135
8. Ensuring High Completion Rates 139
The Problem of Retention 140
Retention in Distance Education Programs 140
Strategies for Improving Completion Rates 144
Summary Tips 149
9. Assessing Learning Outcomes 153
Guiding Principles 154
Methods of Assessment 160
Conclusion 168
Summary Tips 169
10. Program Evaluation 173
Evaluating Program Inputs 176
Program Processes 179
Assessing Outcomes 181
Analysis of Costs and Outcomes 188
Conclusion 191
Summary Tips 192
11. Accreditation 195
Guidelines for Distance Learning 196
Providing Evidence Regarding the
Program’s Effectiveness in Meeting the Guidelines 199
Conclusion 216
Summary Tips 217
Conclusion 223
Author Index 231
Subject Index 235
About the Authors 241
Acknowledgments
I n preparing this book, we have drawn on the ideas, theo

ries, and research of colleagues from a variety of colleges, universities,
institutes, and organizations who have developed creative ways to help
students learn at a distance, raised important questions about effective
ness of instruction, and identified issues that need to be addressed. But
most immediately, we are indebted to our own institutions, The College
of St. Scholastica and the University of Minnesota, for the continuing
opportunities to design and offer distance programs, to assess their
effectiveness, and to use the findings for program improvement. With
out these experiences, we could not have even thought about writing
this book.
We are grateful to the members of the library staff at The College of
St. Scholastica and the University of Minnesota. They demonstrated ex
ceptional competence in providing us a large variety of reference mate
rials in a timely fashion. The peer reviewers, Charles R. Geist, Betty
Elliott, and Sharon B. Johnson, who read and critiqued the manuscript
offered us valuable suggestions and pedagogical advice. We did our
vii
viii DISTANCE LEARNING
best to incorporate many of the ideas, suggestions, and insights they

gave us, although by no means all; any remaining errors are ours alone.
Our families and friends offered us encouragement and assistance
in many ways. Chandra Mehrotra wishes to acknowledge Indra
Mehrotra, his wife and best friend, for her enduring support. He thanks
their two children, Vijay and Gita, for their continuing interest in his
work. He also thanks Nancy Bois for typing a substantial portion of the
manuscript. David Hollister expresses deep appreciation to Georgiana
Hollister, his wife and best friend, for her continuing support. David
also wishes to acknowledge their three children, Patrick, Jonathan, and
Martha, for their interest in his work on this project.
We had the good fortune to work with dedicated professionals at
Sage. Jim Brace-Thompson initiated discussions about this project at
the 1998 American Psychological Association convention where
Chandra Mehrotra had organized a symposium on distance learning.
This support and interest has been most gratifying throughout the pro
cess. It has been a pleasure to work with him. In addition, we appreciate
the thoroughness of copy editor Alison Binder, whose knowledge
about good writing enhanced the quality of the book.
Introduction
D istance learning, or distance education, is not a future

possibility for which higher education must prepare—it is a current real
ity creating new opportunities and challenges for educational institu
tions; a reality offering students expanded choices in where, when, how,
and from whom they learn; and a reality making education accessible to
ever larger numbers of persons. Indeed, during the past several years,
there has been a dramatic increase in the number of colleges, universi
ties, and other providers offering distance education courses, work
shops, and programs. A U.S. Department of Education report indicates
that from 1995 to 1998, the number of institutions offering distance learn
ing increased by 33%; during the same period, the number of distance
courses and enrollments doubled (National Center for Education Statis
tics, 1999). Many observers believe that this growth is likely to continue.
Why? Properly implemented, distance education can enhance the learn
ing experience and increase access to higher education for a wide variety
of potential students, especially those who have not been able to take
advantage of the traditional on-campus experience.
ix
x DISTANCE LEARNING
Background and Audience
Although many institutions consider distance education a means of ex

panding their service area, addressing the needs of underserved popu
lations, and developing new sources of revenue, it is the faculty’s re
sponsibility to make courses and programs available in new ways that
are both effective and efficient. This effort requires rethinking the
course design, selecting appropriate modes of delivery, creating strate
gies to engage students in active learning, maintaining contact with the
students, and assessing student performance. In short, ensuring an ef
fective learning environment in distance courses places new demands
on the participating faculty, although many faculty members have had
limited experience designing such courses. Likewise, college adminis
trators need information to help them create the context and supports
essential to deliver high-quality programs to remote students. The spe
cial demands that distance education imposes on faculty and administrators
prompted us to write this book. Our goal is not to offer a comprehensive re
view of research on the subject but to provide a helpful guide for those
with limited experience in designing, delivering, and evaluating dis
tance learning courses and programs.
The book derives mostly from our individual struggles as teachers.
We are always experimenting and trying to expand our repertoire of
approaches to distance learning—sometimes successfully, sometimes
not. We do not view ourselves as experts in technology. Instead, we are
users of technology with a continuing passion for enhancing student
learning—both in campus-based and in distance programs. When we
are not sure of which technology would best help students achieve a
given outcome, we draw on the expertise of technology specialists
available at our respective institutions. Given this background and the
continuing advances in technology, the book emphasizes principles,
rather than details about specific pieces of equipment or software. The
underlying assumption is that once instructors know what course con
tent they plan to cover, what student population they expect to reach,
and what learning outcomes they desire students to achieve, they can
make technology-related decisions in consultation with the specialists
who have the knowledge and experience related to a wide range of
technologies. In other words, this is not a book on technology; it is a
practical guide offering tips on launching a distance learning course or
Introduction xi
program. We intend this book to assist educators and administrators

who are contemplating their initial involvement in distance education,
discerning the extent of their commitment (from occasional courses to
full degree programs), and choosing the modalities for delivering dis
tance instruction.
We trust that this book will appeal to a variety of readers, from
those already engaged in distance learning who want to further
strengthen their current efforts to those who need background, guid
ance, and encouragement as a prelude to launching distance courses.
The main audience for the book is faculty and administrators who are
interested in exploring the implications of starting a program or are ad
dressing an institutional mandate to launch a new program. Con
sidering the increased interest in fostering student-centered learning,
the isolation that many students experience in large classes, and the po
tential of technology to engage students in active learning, however,
much of what we offer in this book can be applied to on-campus
courses and programs as well. The challenge in both on-campus and
distance programs is the same: how to put together an appropriate
combination of activities, resources, and technologies to help each stu
dent achieve intended learning outcomes.
Overview of the Contents
Chapter 1 defines distance education and examines why many institu

tions of higher education are entering the field. We have elected to or
ganize the remaining chapters of the text by considering what must
happen before students enroll in a distance education course or pro
gram, what takes place while students are enrolled, and what tran
spires once students complete a distance course or program. With this
organizing principle in mind, we offer an overview of the remaining
chapters below.
Chapters 2 through 6 examine the planning and preparation stages
of a distance education course or program. What needs to be done be
fore students enroll?
Chapter 2 addresses strategies for attracting students to enroll
in distance education courses and programs. Chapter 3 describes how
we apply principles of good educational practice to distance education,
xii DISTANCE LEARNING
including a discussion of strategies for improving communication, pro

viding feedback, clarifying understanding of difficult concepts, and in
creasing student motivation. Chapter 4 focuses attention on designing
a syllabus for a distance learning course, noting helpful features not
typically found in the traditional classroom syllabus.
Chapter 5 describes and discusses the various distance education
modalities more fully, including print, radio, audio conference, audio
cassette, television, satellite conferencing, interactive television, video
cassette, CD-ROM, Internet conferencing, and the World Wide Web.
Chapter 6 enunciates various principles to consider in selecting the
modes of delivery for distance education.
Chapters 7 through 9 examine implementation of a distance educa
tion program. What must occur while students are enrolled?
Chapter 7 explores ways to provide support services to distance
students that are equivalent to those available to students on campus,
such as library access, advising, tutoring, financial aid, and career ser
vices. Chapter 8 suggests strategies and tips for attaining high com
pletion rates in distance courses without compromising educational
standards. Chapter 9 focuses on assessing learning outcomes—ways
to know whether students have actually learned through distance
instruction.
Chapters 10 and 11 examine quality control in distance education.
What must be done after students complete a course or program?
Chapter 10 explains how to monitor and evaluate distance pro
grams to improve both implementation and outcomes. Chapter 11 ad
dresses issues regarding accreditation of institutions offering distance
learning programs and provides suggestions to help program adminis
trators meet accreditation criteria.
To complete the text, we offer some concluding thoughts. The con
clusion also addresses issues that were not included in earlier chapters
and speculates about future directions in distance education.
Our Companion Web Site
Given the continuing growth of new knowledge regarding different as

pects of distance learning and the level of detail that the constraints of
available space place on a publication of this nature, we have included
Introduction xiii
a number of references to Web sites throughout the book. We believe

readers will find this information useful in keeping themselves abreast
of new developments specific to their area of interest. Mindful of the
rapid pace at which Web addresses change, new sites are created, and
others become obsolete, however, we have opted to place most such in
formation on the Web site accompanying the text, hosted by Sage Publi
cations at www.sagepub.com/mehrotra. We trust this approach allows
us to demonstrate better many points covered in the text. At the end of
each chapter, we provide a general description of the pertinent topics
that readers can expect to find at the Sage Web site. Examples of the ma
terial presented on the Web site include sample syllabi for distance
courses; assessment strategies; updates on accreditation guidelines;
links with relevant sites; and references to new articles, reports, and
publications. This Web site will be updated at least twice a year for 2
years following publication of the book. We will appreciate receiving
feedback regarding all aspects of the site; in addition, we invite readers
to suggest resources for inclusion on the Web site.
Reference
National Center for Education Statistics. (1999). Distance education at
postsecondary education institutions: 1997-98 (NCES 2000-013). Washington,
DC: U.S. Department of Education.
1
Distance Education
What Is It?
And Why Is It Expanding So Rapidly?
D istance education can be defined as any formal approach

to instruction in which the majority of the instruction occurs while educator and
learner are not in each other’s physical presence. A wide range of instruc
tional arrangements is encompassed by this definition. Indeed, distance
education has existed for well more than a century, beginning with cor
respondence courses that were developed in the late 1800s. Lessons were
mailed out, completed, returned to the instructor, graded, and then
returned to the student along with the next lesson. Formal course credit
(high school or college) could be completed in this manner, and eventu
ally entire diplomas or degrees could be earned. This arrangement con
tinues to the present, with a number of colleges and universities in the
United States and overseas offering courses by mail.
1
2 DISTANCE LEARNING
Microwave Transmitted
Videocassette Courses
Satellite Courses
Correspondence
Online Courses
Educational TV
Courses
Radio Courses
ITV Courses
Courses
Radio
World Wide Web

Videorecording
Compressed
Broadcast
Television
US Mail
Internet
1775 1800 1825 1850 1875 1900 1925 1950 1975 2000
Video
Computers
Personal
Figure 1.1. Timeline of Distance Education Technology
Impacts of Technology on Distance Education
In the 20th century, the gradually accelerating pace of technological in

vention led to many new forms of distance education (see Figure 1.1).
Radio broadcast was adopted for course delivery in the 1930s. In some
sparsely populated regions, individualized instruction occurred via
two-way radio, for example, instruction to individual students living
on remote sheep ranches in Australia. Not long after the arrival of com
mercial broadcast television, educational institutions began using it to
deliver college courses. By the late 1950s, television channels dedicated
to instruction had been established in many American cities. Later im
provements in educational television included closed-circuit tele
Distance Education: What Is It? 3
vision, microwave transmission, video recording, and satellite trans

mission. Video recordings of lectures and other materials were mailed
to students. Satellite and microwave television were supplemented
with telephone links to enable two-way audio interaction.
Interactive Television
More recently has come the widespread adoption of fully inter

active television (ITV), facilitated by the invention of compressed video,
which could use existing copper telephone lines for transmission, and
later, by the enormous growth of networks of fiber-optic cable, which
permits the transmission of higher-quality video images. By the 1990s,
the costs of equipping classrooms for television transmission had
dropped substantially and had come within reach of many educational
institutions. The instructor’s site and the students’ site could each
readily transmit audio and video to the other. Instruction could be fully
interactive. The availability of full interactivity for distance education
persuaded many otherwise skeptical educators and administrators to
give serious consideration to establishing distance courses and pro
grams. Prior to full interactivity, distance education had often been con
sidered “second choice” and somewhat suspect. By the late 1990s,
many institutions of higher education were offering entire degree pro
grams through ITV.
The Internet and Distance Education
Meanwhile, by the mid-1990s, the digital revolution had devel

oped the personal computer, the Internet, the World Wide Web
(“www” or “the Web”), and the CD-ROM to the point where it became
feasible to deliver educational content directly to students’ homes and
offices. Interaction of students with each other and with the instructor
can now be synchronous (occurring simultaneously) or asynchronous
(occurring at different times), with the latter providing additional flexi
bility in students’ and instructors’ schedules. Geographic location
ceased to be a major consideration in that Web-based courses could be
taken anywhere an Internet connection existed and any time of the day
or night.
4 DISTANCE LEARNING
Figure 1.2. Percentage of Institutions Offering Distance Education
SOURCE: From Distance Education at Postsecondary Education Institutions 1997-98 (p. 48),
by National Center for Education Statistics, 1999, Washington, DC: U.S. Department of
Education.
NOTE: This is the only figure that includes information for private 2-year institutions.
The Prevalence of Distance Education

in the United States
The last few years have seen an enormous growth in the number of
higher education institutions offering distance courses. As shown in
Figure 1.2, in 1998 (the latest year for which figures are available), 44%
of all 2-year and 4-year higher education institutions offered distance
courses, compared with 33% in 1995 (National Center for Education
Statistics, 1999).
Figure 1.3. Number of Distance Education Degree and Certificate Programs

Education.
Likewise, the number of degree programs offered through dis

tance education increased from 690 in 1995 to 1,190 in 1997-1998 (see
Figure 1.3). An additional 20% of the institutions surveyed planned to
start distance education programs within 3 years (National Center for
Education Statistics, 1999). The growth between 1995 and 1998 appears
to have occurred in use of the Web for distance learning, rather than
with ITV or one-way prerecorded video. Use of the latter two modes ac
tually declined slightly, as illustrated in Figure 1.4. Many observers be
lieve that the growth in distance education in the years ahead will con
tinue to occur primarily through the use of Web-based courses.
6 DISTANCE LEARNING
Figure 1.4. Technologies Used in Distance Education in 1995 and 1997-1998

Education.
Societal Changes Contributing to the

Growth of Distance Education
Although technological improvements have made the expansion of

distance education possible, technology is not the only factor driving
the interest in distance learning. Broader changes in the environment of
higher education are also at work, including the following.
1. The increased requirements for higher education for career advance

ment. The growing complexity of the environment of most occupations
in today’s society, as well as the increased complexity of the occupa
tions themselves, requires higher education to understand societal
change, to stay abreast of one’s competition, and to advance in one’s oc
cupation or profession. Today, distance delivery methods provide ac
cess to higher education for nontraditional learners who live beyond
commuting distance of a campus.
2. The demand for flexible scheduling by potential students whose daily

routines are complex and do not mesh with the rhythm of the traditional educa
tional day. Increasingly, students of traditional college age work 20 or
more hours per week to finance their education. Older students often
juggle full-time day jobs and child-rearing responsibilities that are not
compatible with the traditional campus schedule. Distance learning
methods offer busy students opportunities to meet their educational
objectives as well as their work and familial responsibilities.
3. The growing market for personal fulfillment courses driven by in

creased personal income in some sectors of society. Increasing affluence and
longevity and a heightened concern for one’s quality of life seem to be
coupled with a growing consumer demand for opportunities to pursue
special interests such as health and wellness, personal finance, and
crafts and hobbies. The falling prices of personal computers and in
creasingly available access to Internet connections make it possible for
higher education institutions to use distance programs to supply these
opportunities to consumers located in areas previously inaccessible
geographically.
4. The general shift in the public’s attitude from one that views educa
tion as a youthful pursuit to one that values lifelong learning. Higher educa
tion in the past tended to be viewed in some (unenlightened) circles as a
pursuit of young adults seeking entry to prestigious and well-paying
employment. It is now well recognized that continuing intellectual en
gagement protects the mind—and possibly the body—from some of
the ravages of aging. Distance learning makes it possible to continue
one’s intellectual life throughout adulthood in the convenience of one’s
home without the burden of travel.
8 DISTANCE LEARNING
5. The growing requirement in many professions that members take ad

ditional coursework every year or two for license renewal. Law, teaching,
social work, and nursing are but a few examples. Distance education
eliminates commuting time and is therefore especially attractive to
busy professionals.
6. The emphasis that many employers today place on specific compe

tencies, rather than degrees, in their hiring. Distance learning has the po
tential to pool students from a large geographic area, thereby enabling
cost-effective instruction targeted to specific needs. Moreover, training
can be delivered electronically directly to the job site.
7. The shift by educators from teacher-centered education to student-

centered learning. Some forms of distance learning are compatible with
this movement. For example, Web-based courses can build in greater
choice for learners than can ITV or traditional classroom instruction.
8. The increasing awareness among educators that students vary

greatly in their learning styles. The various modes of distance education
offer alternative ways of learning that can help level the playing field
for those students whose learning styles are not compatible with the
traditional classroom.
9. The need for greater flexibility in providing educational access to stu

dents with disabilities. Distance education can reduce barriers of mobil
ity and transportation. It can provide alternative formats, for example,
Web-based instruction for students who are hearing impaired. (We will
have more to say about this in Chapter 7.)
10. The variation in students’ willingness to participate in class. Some

students are reluctant to participate in discussions in the traditional
classroom or to respond orally to instructors’ questions because of their
cultural background, family upbringing, or personal temperament,
among other reasons. Distance education relies less on oral skills and
more on written interaction, for example, in Web-based discussion
groups and chat rooms. Not surprisingly, we have seen instances in
which low-participating students in traditional classrooms became ac
tive participants in Web-based discussions.
11. The increased pressure on public institutions of higher learning from

legislatures and governors to develop cost-effective models of collaboration
with other institutions of higher education. Distance education holds much
potential for institutions to concentrate their resources on developing
certain strengths while enabling their students to take advantage of
other collaborating institutions’ special areas of expertise, regardless of
their physical location.
Taken together, these factors have generated a great deal of interest

and investment in distance education by institutions of higher learn
ing. Indeed, distance education has come into the mainstream of higher
education and is available from a wide spectrum of institutions. Dis
tance education clearly no longer is a fringe activity or something en
gaged in only by those institutions whose missions include outreach to
rural areas.
The Impact of Distance Education on

Traditional Instruction
Distance education is changing traditional classroom instruction it

self. Competition among institutions to respond to learning on de
mand and new developments in digital technology have led many in
stitutions to revise the ways in which they offer traditional classroom
courses. Increasingly, these courses incorporate Internet components
such as Web sites, e-mail, threaded discussions, chat rooms, and
listservs (see Chapter 5). These supplemented classroom-based courses
are called Web-enhanced courses, as distinct from Web-based courses, in
which the majority of the interaction occurs electronically. Many of
these enhancements can be effected asynchronously, providing stu
dents with both convenient access and greater schedule flexibility.
These enhancements also give students more ability to direct their
own learning, in that the Web-related features afford students consider
able choice in selecting what discussions to pursue, what resources to
seek out, and what topics to investigate more deeply. In this way, dis
tance education is facilitating the shift from teacher-centered to stu
dent-centered learning, from passive to active and participatory learn
ing. Similarly, many aspects of distance education are conducive to
10 DISTANCE LEARNING
teamwork and collaboration among students at a time when employers

are also placing greater emphasis on teamwork and collaboration.
The development of software packages such as WebCT and Black
board,1 which set up templates for a variety of Web-based course fea
tures, has made it easier for faculty with little background in online
instruction to enter the realm of distance education.
In addition to its effects on classroom instruction, distance educa
tion is affecting higher learning institutions in several other ways. First,
it is stimulating greater competition among educational institutions.
Distance education is challenging geographic and jurisdictional
boundaries, both within countries and globally. Institutions can ex
pand their enrollments by serving student populations far beyond their
traditional home territories. Private, for-profit institutions such as the
University of Phoenix have emerged on the scene, garnering sub
stantial enrollments of students traditionally served by not-for-profit
educational institutions. Some public institutions, such as UCLA,
are also aggressively marketing distance courses to the entire country
and beyond. Other institutions are being drawn into distance educa
tion defensively, viewing it as a way of preventing erosion of their
enrollments.
Second, distance education is also stimulating cooperation among
institutions of higher education. New consortia of higher learning insti
tutions are being formed to deliver degree programs that draw on the
strengths of member institutions, for example, the Western Governors’
University. Proponents argue that distance education will help create a
more rational and efficient deployment of the nation’s educational re
sources by facilitating the sharing and exchange of individual insti
tutions’ specialized expertise. Universities and colleges will not be
obliged to spread their resources across so many disciplines and spe
cialties but will be able to focus them more in selected areas.
Third, distance education is forcing a reevaluation of certain as
pects of traditional higher education that have been assumed to be ef
fective but have not been empirically demonstrated to be so. Educators,
administrators, and accrediting bodies have appropriately questioned
the instructional effectiveness of each form of distance education and
have used traditional higher education as the benchmark. But many of
those who design evaluative studies of distance education correctly
note the lack of empirical research on the educational outcomes of tra
ditional instruction. Much educational research in the past has focused

on inputs, not outcomes. This response has spurred new research on
outcomes of both traditional and distance education, including studies
that compare traditional and distance teaching of the same content by
the same instructors. A number of studies (Biner, Dean, & Mellinger,
1994; Zirkin & Sumler, 1995) suggest comparability of educational re
sults and student satisfaction for traditional and distance education.
Criticisms of Distance Education
Several objections are often raised concerning distance education, a fre

quent assertion being that distance learning lacks the richness of expe
rience afforded in a classroom milieu of colearners. Some modes of dis
tance education can be structured to facilitate student-student and
student-instructor interaction in ways that can equal or exceed the
amount of interaction in a traditional classroom. Although the vehicles
for interaction may be different, they can be organized to provide an in
tense educational experience.
Others argue that institutions offering distance programs cannot
provide sufficient supports and resources to students. We address this
concern more fully in Chapter 7 but note here some ways that supports
can be provided. For ITV and satellite learning, many programs have
found it essential to have local coordinators to facilitate students’ expe
rience at the distant sites. The coordinators sometimes serve several
courses involving largely the same cohort of students, and they can
also facilitate small group in-class activities. It is also important to have
technicians available to help with the adjustment of electronic equip
ment. Students typically access learning resources through a com
bination of means: local campus and public libraries; electronic in
dexes, databases, and journals; resources on the World Wide Web; and
mailed materials from the sponsoring college or university library.
Some institutions’ libraries have become especially attuned to the
needs of distance learners and have established electronic reserves and
other arrangements to support them (see, for example, the University
of Minnesota Libraries Web site at www.lib.umn.edu/dist/). These are
important concerns, and accrediting bodies look closely at library and

other support services for distance learners.
A related criticism is that when done well, distance education in
volves costly expenditures that reduce or eliminate any cost advan
tage—extra staffing (site facilitators, technical support staff, faculty
trainers) and investment in equipment (servers, software, high-speed
transmission lines, electronic classrooms, etc.). This is true. The experi
ence of many institutions is that a quality distance education program
does not save money compared with traditional instruction, and, in
some cases, it may be more costly. Distance education, however, can en
hance an institution’s ability to fulfill its outreach mission by enabling
it to serve previously inaccessible audiences. Moreover, some of the
tools developed for use in distance programs, such as course Web sites,
can also enrich the institution’s traditional classroom courses.
An additional criticism concerning costs is that distance education
requires substantial initial investment in technology that may become
obsolete. True, both hardware and software are constantly being im
proved (it is also true that for some items, costs are declining, not in
creasing). Computer equipment becomes outdated even more rapidly
than transmission equipment. At some point, however, the institution
needs to make the investment, or it will not be able to initiate its dis
tance programs and may not stay competitive with institutions hav
ing a similar mission. An important consideration in selecting equip
ment is the likelihood that it will continue to be compatible with new
systems.
Costs are involved also in training and supporting faculty pro
viding distance education. Extra time is required of faculty, especially
initially, to learn to use new course design principles, new teaching
techniques, new software, and asynchronous modalities for communi
cating with students and student groups. Some of this may also require
evening and weekend involvement—time that is no longer available
for research or for keeping abreast of one’s discipline. These additional
demands on faculty time can be alleviated in part by providing institu
tional support in the form of orientation sessions, software training,
mentoring arrangements, technical assistance in preparing teaching
materials (electronic and otherwise), and, at least initially, reduced
teaching loads. Faculty and staff development is essential to success in
distance education.
Some see distance programs as a potential threat to their institu

tion’s reputation or as a possible threat to its accreditation. A number of
studies, however, have found that the educational outcomes of dis
tance education are comparable with those of traditional higher educa
tion (Biner et al., 1994; Zirkin & Sumler, 1995). Distance learning has
gained recognition and respect from many quarters; indeed, some pres
tigious institutions now offer degree programs through distance edu
cation. Accrediting bodies are recognizing the advantages of distance
education for fulfillment of institutional mission. As we explain in
Chapter 11, many agencies are modifying or have already modified
their accreditation requirements to encompass these new realities.
Not all higher learning institutions, however, will be attracted to
distance education. Some will see their mission as providing a tradi
tional, residential 2- or 4-year degree program to full-time, traditional
college-age students. Even these institutions, however, are likely to use
Web-enhanced instruction sooner or later. Other institutions, includ
ing some graduate institutions, do not perceive outreach to hitherto in
accessible audiences to be an important part of their mission and will
be unlikely to develop distance degree programs. Some of these insti
tutions, however, will nevertheless find it worthwhile, and even stra
tegic, to offer certain courses in selected fields through distance
education.
Conclusion
Distance education is not a new phenomenon, but changes in the larger

society and the growth of new technologies for instructional delivery
have increased the public’s awareness of and demand for distance edu
cation so that it does appear to be a “new thing.” These same societal
and technological changes have altered the nature of higher educa
tion institutions and instruction itself. Although a number of criti
cisms have been leveled against distance education, it complements
traditional classroom-based instruction, providing invaluable service
to those students previously denied access to higher education be
cause of geographic barriers or scheduling difficulties. At the same
time, distance education methods show great promise in the areas of
continuing professional education, personal enrichment, and lifelong

learning.
www At our Sage Web site, www.sagepub.com/mehrotra
On our companion Web site are links to additional information

about the history of distance education; links to current reports on
trends in distance learning, including recent surveys; and a listing of
journals related to distance education.
Note
1. When we refer to a commercial product, any such citation is by
way of giving an example of a tool having a particular capability or fea
ture. We do not intend to exclude similar products, nor are we offering
an endorsement of any product.
References
Biner, P. M., Dean, R. S., & Mellinger, A. E. (1994). Factors underlying distance
learner satisfaction with televised college-level courses. American Journal
of Distance Education, 8(1), 60-71.
National Center for Education Statistics. (1999). Distance education at post
secondary education institutions: 1997-98 (NCES 2000-013). Washington, DC:
U.S. Department of Education.
Zirkin, B. G., & Sumler, D. E. (1995). Interactive or non-interactive? That is the
question! An annotated bibliography. Journal of Distance Education, 10(1),
95-112.
2
Attracting Students to
Distance Learning
I n this chapter, we provide some suggestions for attracting

students to a distance education program, an obviously important con
cern if the endeavor is to be financially feasible. Thus, considerable
thought needs to go into the institution’s strategies for recruiting stu
dents to its distance programs (and to supporting them once they are
enrolled—a topic discussed more fully in Chapter 7).
The strategies for attracting distance students need to be designed
in relation to each of the other aspects of the program and should fol
low from them. A sound assessment of the need and demand for dis
tance education will help identify the specific population(s) to be tar
geted by the program. The characteristics of the target population will,
in turn, help shape the instructional design, which in turn should
heavily influence the choice of the mode for delivering the instruction.
Problems or new issues encountered at any phase can also impinge on
15
Target Instructional
Audience Design
Need Delivery
Assessment Mode
Marketing Strategies
Figure 2.1. Marketing’s Relation to Other Components of Distance Educa

tion Planning
earlier phases (Moore & Kearsley, 1996). Each phase has both a direct
and an indirect relationship to the marketing strategies, as dia
grammed in Figure 2.1.
How to Assess the Need and Demand

for a Distance Program
Institutions with a history of outreach and extension are probably in a

better position to gauge the probable need and demand for distance
courses than those with no outreach history because they already have
experience in offering traditional courses on evenings or weekends or
at off-campus locations. These institutions, however, will also benefit
from a careful assessment of need. There are a variety of techniques for
measuring need, none of which is completely sufficient to be used
alone. Among the more useful techniques for assessing need for dis
tance education are surveys, secondary data analysis, community
meetings, focus groups, and use of expert opinion. Employing two or
more techniques and a comparison of the results can be helpful. To the
extent that the findings converge to suggest a demand, the institution
can have more confidence that a proposed distance program will be
Attracting Students 17
well subscribed. Witkin and Artschuld (1995) have written a useful

guide for performing needs assessments.
Several pools of potential students can be queried by surveys:
alumni; past and current students enrolled in courses offered on week
ends and evenings and off-campus; professionals, such as nurses,
teachers, and social workers (address lists can usually be obtained
through the state unit handling licensing); and so on. The surveys can
be helpful both for identifying the course topics and fields of greatest
interest and for assessing prospective students’ acceptance of the me
dia for distance instruction. Even a moderately strong interest in dis
tance learning indicated by a survey, however, should be viewed with
caution. Some of those giving a positive response will not enroll when
the realities of the specific class schedule and time commitment become
known. In the case of degree programs, some prospects expressing in
terest may not meet the minimum admission qualifications for prereq
uisite courses or for prior academic performance. Surveys mailed to the
general population are unlikely to yield useful information, but sur
veys of special groups, such as recent graduates and prospective em
ployers, can be helpful.
These surveys should be designed in accordance with established
procedures (see, for example, Rubin & Babbie, 2001) so that the infor
mation secured will be of sufficiently high quality to be trustworthy.
First, the information needed should be carefully determined; the sur
vey should then be limited to obtaining that information. The longer
the survey instrument, the greater the risk of losing potential respon
dents. Among the items often included are questions ascertaining stu
dents’ educational background and other demographic characteristics;
their experience with distance education; their preferences for a learn
ing modality; the distance they are willing to travel (important when
delivery is by ITV or if online learning is to be supplemented with occa
sional in-person meetings); hours available for participation (impor
tant if live interaction is required); access to computers and libraries;
and, of course, subjects and fields of greatest interest.
Analysis of data available from other sources—the Census Bureau,
the state’s department of education (e.g., high school graduation data),
or a state’s higher education coordinating body—can be used to better
understand the potential markets in specific regions.
Because ITV-based instruction usually targets specific geographic
locations, it can be advantageous to hold meetings with employers and
others who have expert knowledge regarding the needs in that area for
distance education. For example, before the University of Minnesota
initiated a distance master of social work degree program, the program
administrators held several meetings with prospective social service
employers and officials of local educational institutions at each of the
sites under consideration. These meetings indicated that sufficient de
mand and local support existed to proceed with the program. In some
instances, it also may be possible to develop a contractual agreement
with an employer or cluster of employers to provide distance instruc
tion to a group of their employees. Institutions ranging from voca
tional-technical schools to universities offering graduate degrees have
successfully used this approach, which also reduces the financial risk to
the institution by guaranteeing an audience.
Community information meetings can be scheduled at local edu
cational institutions or libraries to discuss possible distance pro
gramming with prospective students, parents, employers, and other
interested parties; the same meetings allow the institution to collect com
munity input and gauge reaction to the proposed program. If the meet
ings are well publicized in advance, they can provide helpful feedback
on the extent of demand for various courses and programs. A roster of
those attending one of these forums can become the nucleus of a list of
contacts for follow-up marketing once the programs are established.
An incremental approach may be a good strategy for a college or
university seeking to start a distance education program. Before initiat
ing a complete distance degree program, it is wise for the institution
first to offer a few distance courses. This affords an opportunity to mea
sure students’ response to distance education, to obtain a better sense
of the potential market, and to provide the institution and participating
faculty members with valuable experience in distance instruction.
These pioneering faculty members often later become informal consul
tants to faculty participating in distance programs.
One or several groups of students who enrolled in these initial dis
tance courses can be convened into focus groups to secure specific sug
gestions for improving the courses. Krueger (1994) describes ways to
maximize the quality of the feedback from focus groups. In the mean
time, those students who have completed distance courses often help
create additional interest in distance offerings through their conversa
tions with coworkers and friends.
In short, initially delivering just a few courses enables the institu

tion to experiment with distance education without having to commit
the resources needed to support an entire program, thus reducing the
financial risk. After gaining some experience with distance courses, the
institution may be ready to commit to offering a full distance degree
program.
Target Audience
What individuals is the distance program trying to reach? Part-time

learners? Older learners? People seeking improved job skills, general
education, specialized certificates or graduate degrees, or courses for
personal fulfillment? Learners who live or work at considerable geo
graphic distance? Persons with special needs or disabilities? Resident
students (who may want the more flexible schedule of distance educa
tion or a more learner-driven approach to instruction)?
Distance courses have been successfully targeted to each of the
aforementioned audiences, and others in addition. The characteristics
and preferences of each category of potential users vary somewhat,
however, which should be taken into account in designing the instruc
tion and developing its marketing strategy. Older learners may re
spond better to videotapes and ITV instruction than do younger learn
ers, who tend to have more experience with computers and the Web.
People with busy schedules are likely to respond better to asynchro
nous learning than do those who have more time available. Likewise,
ITV may not be feasible for learners whose dispersal across a large geo
graphic distance or rugged terrain may preclude travel to a receiving
site or where weather conditions frequently make travel unsafe. Learn
ers also vary in their access to computers and to the high-speed connec
tions required for some types of computer-based instruction, as noted
in Chapter 5. This may become less of a problem as the cost of com
puters continues to decline, as the use of personal computers becomes
increasingly commonplace, as the infrastructure for high-speed con
nections continues to be extended, and as community libraries expand
public access to the Web, thereby increasing access for those who can
not afford computers. There is much concern about the “digital divide”
in today’s society. Expanding community libraries’ public Internet fa

cilities is one means of addressing this problem.
Distance learning attracts students who also differ somewhat from
the general student population. For example, Elliott, Ambrosia, and
Case (1999) characterize their community college’s distance learners as
follows:
Our most successful distance learning students share several key

characteristics:
Goal oriented. Many want specific job-related courses and all
expect to get their money’s worth from college.
Highly motivated. They are self-directed learners with good read
ing and time management skills, and they are willing to work
independently.
Focused learners. They are learners who often enroll for the pure
joy of learning.
Risk-takers. They are willing to try new ways of learning.
Thrive when guided and encouraged by their instructors. They do best
when they are integrated into the institution’s social and support
structures and given personal mentoring. (p. 67)
The last point also highlights the importance to distance learning of

support services and social integration, topics we address in Chapters 7
and 8. Elliott and coauthors go on to note that these characteristics fit
well with distance learning, which, more than traditional instruction,
requires students to manage their own learning process, to be more
assertive, and to participate actively in the instructional process.
Instructional Design and Mode of Delivery
Chapters 3 and 4 will address principles of instructional design that

should be incorporated into the planning of distance learning, while
Chapters 5 and 6 will outline considerations involved in selecting the
mode of delivery of distance learning. Throughout this book, we stress
that the selection of the mode of delivery should follow from the in
structional design, not vice versa. With these ideas in mind, we can now
turn to marketing strategies that can be used in developing distance

education.
Strategies for Marketing

Distance Courses and Programs
A basic marketing principle is to know the comparative advantages

and disadvantages of the product. Distance education is attractive for
learners because it reduces barriers of both geography and schedule
and can be responsive to learners with special needs. It opens up access
to learning to large numbers of persons who previously could not en
roll because they lived too far away, because their work or family
schedules did not allow them to take courses at traditional times and
locations, or because they had special needs that prevented their enroll
ment on campus. Thus, the flexibility of distance education is a major
advantage.
A second advantage is the opportunity that distance education
provides to learn from classmates from different backgrounds and locales.
For example, ITV courses can help urban-based professionals better
understand the challenges facing their rural counterparts, and vice
versa. Web-based courses, on the other hand, can involve students from
many geographic areas and sometimes from several countries.
A third advantage is that some forms of distance education, such as
Web-based or Web-enhanced courses, permit learning to be student
driven rather than instructor driven. This feature of distance education
appeals to many adult learners and busy professionals and should be
stressed in promotional materials.
A fourth advantage is faculty resources. Faculty from different col
lege campuses are sometimes coinstructors of the same course. This can
provide greater breadth and depth than instruction by one faculty
member alone. For example, in the fall of 2000, six professors from six
Southern universities began teaching an advanced Latin course via the
Internet (Young, 2000a).
All these advantages can be built into the themes used to market
distance education, with special emphasis placed on the convenience,
flexibility, and greater opportunity to direct one’s own learning. Many
potential distance learners, however, have not previously taken any
thing other than traditional classroom courses, and some may be un
easy about courses delivered electronically or through other media.
Moreover, many prospective students (and some faculty) are skeptical
that distance education can be of as high a quality as traditional class
room education, or that even if it is of high quality, it may not be valued
highly by prospective employers. These are important questions that
need to be fully explored with prospective students. On the one hand,
it is important to communicate to prospective students that there is
ample evidence that distance education is equivalent to traditional ed
ucation. Distance education is not the same as traditional education,
but each modality has certain advantages and disadvantages (as well
as a lot in common). The quality and educational outcomes of dis
tance education have been found in many studies to be equivalent,
when there has been sound educational design. The empirical findings
regarding the equivalence of outcomes of distance learning are simi
lar and encouraging across a wide array of disciplines and instruc
tional technologies (Russell, 1999). On the other hand, the research
designs used in some studies of distance learning have not been ad
equate to permit definitive conclusions about equivalence (Phipps
& Merisotis, 1999). It is important to be honest with prospective
students—to say that the research done to date is generally encourag
ing, that it suggests that distance learning has approximately equiva
lent outcomes in many subjects, and also that more comprehensive
studies are still needed.
It may assist marketing efforts to emphasize that some of the lead
ing institutions in the United States and overseas offer distance educa
tion programs (Carr, 2000) and to note that employers, too, appreciate
the flexibility that distance education provides to employees. In addi
tion, marketers may point out that distance and traditional education
technologies are converging—distance technologies are increasingly
also being used in resident instruction. For example, Northwestern
University recently announced plans to wire all dormitory rooms on
campus to enable students to use computers in their rooms to call up a
variety of video-based instructional materials (Young, 2000b). More
and more resident courses are incorporating Web-based components,
even when all the students enrolled are resident students. Tutoring is
also sometimes delivered electronically.
Prospective students need to be informed of the variety of means
available to interact with the instructor and with other learners and to
know that they will receive prompt feedback from the instructor on the
assignments they submit. Prospective students should also be in
formed that initiative will be required on their part because distance
education is more learner directed than is traditional learning. An up-
front discussion of expectations of students is also an important part of
the strategy for ensuring that distance learning programs attract learn
ers who have a high probability of success.
Although administrators and faculty can and should draw from
the national (and international) literature in promoting their institu
tion’s distance education programs, they most certainly should under
take studies at their own institutions to compare learning outcomes
and student satisfaction with traditional and distance courses and cur
ricula and to identify the characteristics of those who enroll and those
who complete distance courses and programs. Institutions should also
convene focus groups (see earlier discussion) of distance students to re
ceive feedback on the program. The results from these studies will be
useful for marketing as well as for program improvement.
Specific Ideas for Promoting and

Marketing Distance Programs
A variety of means are available to attract distance students. To achieve

the maximum impact for marketing, the recruitment strategy should be
developed in cooperation with the office of admissions and the office
that handles the institution’s publicity and external relations. Here are
some specific ideas to consider incorporating into the marketing plan:
1. Create a Web page specifically on the distance programs:
a. Provide a description of the program, the career opportunities to

which it can lead, and admission requirements; a description of
how distance learning works; and a description of the support
services available to learners, such as financial aid, libraries,
advising, career services, and so on. (See also the discussion of
support services in Chapter 7.)
b. Include the schedule of distance courses and also detailed course

descriptions (and possibly even syllabi).
c. Link the Web page to other frequently visited pages on the institu
tion’s Web site, such as descriptions of the degree and certificate
programs, the college catalogue, the schedule of classes, and
information about faculty.
d. Consider contracting with one or more of the commercial firms

that have set up Web-based and/or print directories to list the
institution and Web site along with other institutions offering
courses through distance education, such as the Guide to Distance
Learning Programs (2000).
e. Post a brief sample lesson from a course on the Web site to give
students a better idea of how a Web-based or Web-enhanced ses
sion works. If the course uses streaming video, then a brief sam
ple of a lecture using streaming video could be put on the Web
site. (Likewise, for courses based on videotapes or compact discs
[CDs], a minilecture could be included on a promotional video
tape or CD mailed out to prospective students.) This helps stu
dents experience how the program works, promotes active learn
ing, provides feedback at the end of each module, and allows
students to interact with others.
f. Include on the Web site a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

page, and update it frequently on the basis of experience and
comments from students. A good example of a FAQ page is the
one operated by OnlineLearning.net (www.onlinelearning.net/
StudentServices/CourseManagers/index.cfm?s=920.50101602p.
110b107d20).
g. Include a link to the library’s Web site that explains the services
available to distance learners, the interlibrary loan system, and (if
available) the library’s electronic reserve system. For example,
see the University of Minnesota site (www.lib.umn.edu/dist/).
h. On the Web site and in other publicity materials, provide a toll-

free number that enables prospective students to connect with the
administrative coordinator, with course instructors, and with
other campus offices to get questions answered.
2. Establish a listserv that will provide announcements of new distance
courses and other notices automatically to those who have subscribed
to it. Then build in an opportunity on the Web site for interested per
sons to subscribe to the listserv. For an example of an active listserv
sponsored by UCLA and other institutions, send an e-mail to

OnlineLearning.net (updates2000@onlinelearning.net).
3. Also use traditional media, such as press releases, newspaper adver

tisements, radio and television advertisements, and brochures and fly
ers, for announcing new courses and programs and publicizing in
creases in enrollments and other developments.
a. Place stories and announcements in catalogs and bulletins,

alumni publications, and newsletters.
b. Include in the above some short descriptions of, and quotations

from, individual students or graduates who have taken distance
courses and degree programs (with their permission, of course).
Prospective students will find firsthand accounts of students’
experiences with distance learning interesting and helpful.
4. Seek out alumni of distance programs willing to be contacted individu
ally about their distance learning experiences by prospective distance
students. This personal contact will help demystify the learning pro
cess.
5. Publicize distance education courses to resident students as well as to

current and prospective distance students. Many resident students are
interested in trying a distance course. In some distance courses, a third
or more of the students may be resident students. Their enrollment ob
viously helps support distance education financially, and (for ITV) it
helps create for viewers a setting that is more like a traditional class
room by providing an audience that is in the same room as the instruc
tor. (In addition, many ITV instructors prefer to have a live audience in
front of them rather than to speak only to a camera.) In addition, some
resident students will respond to an opportunity to take a course that is
Web based because it is more student driven and enables more flexible
use of time.
6. For ITV-based instruction, consider a rotational plan, whereby a dis

tance program is delivered to a particular community for 2 to 4 years
and then moves on to another community. Some graduate professional
programs have used this strategy to great advantage, while also fulfill
ing the expectations for their institutions to reach out more to rural ar
eas. For example, both Michigan State University and California State
University at Long Beach have rotated the distance versions of their
master of social work degree programs to several communities.
7. Before taking a distance education program into a community, contact

key employers in that area to gain their advice on local needs and to se
cure their support in publicizing the program. Sometimes, employers
will also contribute toward employees’ tuition costs. Encourage pro
spective students to check with employers about possible tuition sub
sidies.
8. Earlier, we suggested using community meetings to help gauge de

mand for distance programming. Once a decision has been made to go
ahead with distance courses or programs, another set of community
meetings can be scheduled to help market the new distance learning
opportunities. Contacting the local media in advance about such meet
ings can add to the number of prospects. In conducting the meetings,
be forthright both about the equivalence of, and the differences be
tween, distance and traditional education. This will help attract those
most able to benefit from distance programs.
9. Wherever possible, include in the information sessions a demonstra

tion of the technology to be used. For example, demonstrate an ITV
hookup with participants on the home campus, a course Web site or a
chat room, an electronic reserve system, and so on. This helps prospec
tive students better understand the similarities to and differences from
the education they have previously received.
10. Specify the equipment that students will need to purchase or access,
such as computers. Check in advance the availability to students of lo
cal public facilities, such as computers and Internet access in local edu
cational institutions or libraries. Include minimum hardware and soft
ware requirements on the Web page.
11. Reassure prospective students of the supports available to distance

learners—financial aid, advising, library supports, tutoring, career
services, site coordinators, multiple ways of communicating with fac
ulty and staff (toll-free line, e-mail, fax, etc.), timeliness of instructors’
responses, and so on. (See Chapter 7 for a more detailed discussion
concerning support services for distance learners.)
12. Clarify accreditation concerns to prospective students, regarding both

the general accreditation status of the institution and the accreditation
specific to certain disciplines and professions. (See Chapter 11 for a dis
cussion of these concerns.)
13. If a distance degree program is offered in cooperation with a local edu

cational institution, try to arrange publicity about the program
through that institution’s media and events, for example, its com
mencement ceremony. Sometimes, the local institution finds it advan

tageous to include the graduating distance cohort in its own com
mencement ceremonies. (This also may increase convenience for
students’ families and friends living in that area.) The local institution
gains recognition as a facilitator of wider educational opportunities for
the local community, and the degree-granting institution gains an op
portunity to further publicize its distance program and the types of
learners it serves.
14. Assure degree- or certificate-seeking students about the institution’s
commitment to seeing them all the way through the degree or certifi
cate program, including that portion of the program to be offered at a
distance. Then honor the commitment, so that students are not aban
doned if the distance program has lower enrollments than projected. In
making such a commitment, it is sometimes necessary for the insti
tution’s financial self-protection to state up front at the information
sessions that the program will not be initiated unless there is a certain
minimum number of admissions.
Conclusion
Attracting students to distance education requires coordination of the

marketing strategies with the assessment of the need for distance edu
cation, identification of the target audience, instructional design, and
selection of the mode of instructional delivery. By combining some of
the strategies noted previously with knowledge of community needs
and of the institution’s linkages to the community, a well-designed dis
tance education program should be able to attract a number of quali
fied applicants. Once they are enrolled, the next challenge is to provide
adequate support for their learning. This is the subject of Chapter 7.
Visit our Sage Publications Web site to take a marketing tour—

follow the links to see how schools already involved in distance edu
cation market their programs. Also included are additional references

to studies on characteristics and preferences of distance learners.
References
Carr, S. (2000, October 6). Oxford, Princeton, Stanford, and Yale plan distance-
education venture. Chronicle of Higher Education, 47(6), A48.
Elliott, B., Ambrosia, A., & Case, P. (1999). A systems approach to asynchro
nous distance learning. In M. Boaz, B. Elliott, D. Foshee, D. Hardy,
C. Jarmon, & D. Olcott Jr. (Eds.), Teaching at a distance: A handbook for
instructors (Chap. 6). Mission Viejo, CA: League for Innovation in the
Community College and Archipelago Productions.
Guide to distance learning programs. (2000). Lawrenceville, NJ: Peterson’s,
Thomson Learning in cooperation with University Continuing Education
Association.
Krueger, R. (1994). Focus groups: A practical guide for applied research (2nd ed.).
Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Moore, M. G., & Kearsley, G. (1996). Distance education: A systems view. Belmont,
CA: Wadsworth.
Phipps, R., & Merisotis, J. (1999). What’s the difference? A review of contemporary
research on the effectiveness of distance learning in higher education. Washing
ton, DC: Institute for Higher Education Policy.
Rubin, A., & Babbie, E. R. (2001). Research methods for social work (4th ed.).
Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Russell, T. L. (1999). The “no significant difference” phenomenon as reported in 355
research reports, summaries and papers. Raleigh: North Carolina State Uni
versity Office of Instructional Telecommunications.
Witkin, B. R., & Artschuld, J. W. (1995). Planning and conducting a needs assess
ment: A practical guide. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Young, J. R. (2000a, July 7). Moving the seminar table to the computer screen.
Chronicle of Higher Education, 46(44), A33.
Young, J. R. (2000b, September 8). Northwestern U. wires its dormitories for
online video instruction. Chronicle of Higher Education, 47(2), A60.
3
Good Practices
in Distance Education
How to Promote
Student Learning and Development
A lthough we may use different strategies to promote

learning in distance education courses, learning theories and princi
ples that have been found successful in the traditional classroom re
main constant regardless of the delivery mechanism. Good practices in
undergraduate education outlined by Chickering and Gamson (1991)
are, therefore, as applicable to distance learning as to the traditional
classroom. The resources made available by technological advances
offer particular promise for implementing good practices, for helping
29
students develop effective communication skills, for facilitating collabo

ration among the students, and for engaging them in active learning. The
instructors in distance education courses, however, need to use creative
approaches to realize the potential of technology to foster student learn
ing. In this chapter, we offer tips that readers may find useful in teaching
their students at a distance. What we present for each practice should not
be viewed as a comprehensive compendium. Instead, our suggestions
should be viewed as a sample of approaches that may serve as a starting
point and stimulate readers to create their own strategies. It is impor
tant to emphasize that the strategies developed should match the course
content and the learning outcomes that the students are expected to
achieve.
Although some courses require continual interaction between the
instructor and the students, there are others for which occasional con
tact may be adequate. Furthermore, within the same course, there may
be selected topics or competencies for which student-student inter
action and/or student-instructor interaction may be essential and
other topics for which such interaction may not be as necessary.
Before launching our discussion on good practices, it is important
to emphasize that instructors need to be careful in managing their time.
Although time management is important in all courses, this skill is
especially relevant in designing new courses and making them avail
able to students at a distance. Even when an instructor has taught a
course on campus, adapting it for a distance learning mode requires
careful thought and planning—at least one or two semesters before
offering the course. This means that both instructor and institution
need to allocate the required time for developing a course syllabus, de
signing assignments, creating assessment procedures, and securing
copyright clearances. As a part of creating the course design, instruc
tors also need to think about the time that they plan to devote to teach
ing the course. On the basis of our experience with teaching such
courses, the time commitment is substantial even for 20 students. Thus,
although the practices we present in this chapter have been found effec
tive in enhancing student learning, which of them are used and to what
extent will depend on the design of the course, the outcomes expected
of students, the number of students in the course, and the time instruc
tors are able to devote.
Good Practices 31
The Good Practices
Good Practice 1: Encourage faculty-student contact.
Frequent student-faculty contact is the most important focus in

student motivation and involvement. Faculty concern helps stu
dents get through rough times and keep on working. Knowing a few
faculty members well enhances students’ intellectual commitment
and encourages them to think about their own values and plans.
(Chickering & Gamson, 1991, pp. 14-15)
Instructors in distance education courses can use available technol

ogy to maintain contact with their students. Below are some tips read
ers may find useful.
1. Encourage students to contact you via e-mail with their questions, and
respond promptly to the messages you receive. Having e-mail access to the
instructor promotes communication and allows many shy students to
ask their instructor questions that they may not have asked in front of
other members of the class. Students use e-mail to converse with the in
structor regarding the course objectives, readings, assignments, and
other aspects of the class. They appreciate receiving a prompt response
from the instructor and feel encouraged to ask additional questions as
the need arises. In addition to responding to student questions, instruc
tors also use e-mail to provide them with individualized feedback on
their papers, assignments, quizzes, and exams. Such communication is
effective because it is more personalized, protected, and convenient
than the more intimidating demands of face-to-face interaction. Of
course, this implies that the instructors need to pay special attention to
the language, tone, and style they use in e-mail communication with
their students. Encouraging notes from instructors make a difference
for the students, especially when they feel isolated in small communi
ties away from the college campus.
2. Provide students with a toll-free telephone number to contact you. Al

though e-mail provides an effective vehicle for sustained contact be
tween faculty and students, there are times when learners need to have
an oral conversation with the instructor. Providing all students with a

toll-free number sends a clear message about the instructor’s availabil
ity to talk with them in times of need, gives students an opportunity to
seek clarification regarding an assignment or an examination, and
helps them move forward when they are having difficulty with some
material in the course. It has been our experience that students do not
make unnecessary use of the telephone, calling only when a problem or
an issue requires immediate resolution.
3. Synthesize the key points from the discussion created by the questions,
case studies, or other stimuli you had provided. Many instructors use tech
nology to promote discussion among the participants in distance learn
ing by providing them with case studies, field projects, study ques
tions, quizzes, or other stimuli. Teachers monitor the group discussion,
examine the themes that surface, and track who participates and who
does not. On the basis of their observations, instructors can then post
responses to frequently asked questions. We have found this approach
quite effective when a number of students are asking the same ques
tions or when clarification or additional information is needed regard
ing the topic under discussion. Students also appreciate the teacher
bringing closure to a discussion by offering a synthesis of what was
presented, answering questions they have raised, interpreting the dis
cussion, and connecting it with the next unit(s) of the course. Such par
ticipation as a discussion facilitator and synthesizer keeps the instruc
tor apprised of the students’ experience of the course, which concepts
or principles they find difficult, how they are learning from each other,
and what progress they are making toward achieving the expected
course outcomes. Knowing that their instructor is following the discus
sion not only affects the quality of students’ contribution but also keeps
them aware of their contact with the instructor. This awareness keeps
them motivated and actively engaged and promotes a sense of being
connected with each other and the instructor. An online or ITV discus
sion often brings out points that the instructor may not have planned to
introduce, just as happens in a traditional on-campus classroom. In ad
dition, it allows the instructors to develop an understanding of their
students, their background, their interests, and sometimes their work
environment.
Good Practices 33
Good Practice 2: Develop reciprocity and cooperation among

students.
Learning is enhanced when it is more like a team effort than a solo

race. Good learning, like good work, is collaborative and social, not
competitive and isolated. Working with others increases involvement
in learning. Sharing one’s ideas and responding to others improves
thinking and deepens understanding. (Chickering & Gamson, 1991,
pp. 16-17)
Given the isolation experienced by many distance education stu

dents, and recognizing the value of collaboration and teamwork in en
hancing learning, we offer the following suggestions to promote reci
procity and cooperation among students.
1. Begin the class by inviting the students to introduce themselves. This

introduction can be made via Internet conference, chat room, or ITV
and can include information about students’ year in college, their place
of current residence, their reasons for taking the course, their prior ex
perience with distance learning, and their work setting. The instructor
can participate in this process either by first introducing himself or her
self or by providing a summary of the characteristics of the members of
the class. Students appreciate learning about each other and the in
structor. Our experience indicates that this practice helps develop colle
giality in the course and promotes the development of networking rela
tionships among the students. Having background information on
those enrolled in the course allows the students to (a) identify their
classmates with similar interests and backgrounds, (b) design and
carry out collaborative projects, (c) exchange ideas about the material
being covered in the course, and (d) respond to each other’s questions
as they arise. At the same time, each student’s right to privacy and con
fidentiality must be respected; this may require obtaining written per
mission from the students before the introductions session occurs.
2. Make a class list available to all the students enrolled in the course.
This list may include both e-mail and postal addresses. Students find
this information helpful because it allows them to establish contact
with classmates who live nearby and/or share common interests. If the
program includes some on-site meetings, this information also facili
tates forming car pools, which contribute toward the goal of collabora
tive learning. Note again the importance of securing participants’ per
mission before making such lists available—students should not feel
pressured into providing information.
3. Encourage teams of students to enroll in the course. The master of

education program provided by The College of St. Scholastica via dis
tance learning for K-12 teachers provides students an incentive to form
study teams by allowing them to submit their applications in one enve
lope and charging a single application fee regardless of team size. Expe
rience indicates that members of the study teams often share their reac
tions to readings in their courses, undertake collaborative projects,
travel together for on-site meetings, and support each other in many
ways. This strategy not only creates communities of learners but also
leads to high rates of retention and graduation.
4. Provide opportunities for on-site activities to complement distance

learning. The likelihood of increased reciprocity and cooperation
among students is often enhanced through face-to-face interaction in
on-site activities. When students from different parts of a broad re
gional area enroll in a distance education program, an on-site orienta
tion introduces them to the program as a whole, communicates the in
structor and program expectations, engages them in discussing the
readings that had been sent to them in advance, and promotes the de
velopment of networking relationships. An on-site session scheduled
later in a course or program provides students an opportunity to pre
sent their research, solicit suggestions for further research, and review
the progress that they have made with regard to the expected outcomes
of the program as a whole.
5. Involve students in sharing with each other their reactions to what

they are learning. We have already noted the effectiveness of students’
participation in discussing the weekly topic as a means of sustaining
their contact with the instructor. When the students present their view
points in the conference area of an online course or in the discussion
session of an ITV course, they get to know each other and begin to form
relationships that continue long after they have completed the course
Good Practices 35
or the program. One of our colleagues reports that some of the partici
pants in her distance education course often call each other to discuss
their work-related situations.
6. Create opportunities for learning in pairs. Research and experience

show that working and studying in pairs can facilitate learning. This
approach is especially useful in distance courses when students do not
have the opportunity to interact with one another on a regular basis be
fore, during, and after the in-class meetings. Instructors in distance
learning courses may form dyads in which students ask and answer
questions on commonly read books, journal articles, or other material
that they can summarize later in an assigned reaction paper.
Good Practice 3: Use active learning techniques.
Learning is not a spectator sport. Students do not learn much just sit
ting in classes listening to teachers, memorizing prepackaged assign
ments, and spitting out answers. They must talk about what they are
learning, write reflectively about it, relate it to past experiences, and
apply it to their daily lives. They must make what they learn part of
themselves. (Chickering & Gamson, 1991, pp. 17-18)
As indicated above, active learning involves providing opportuni

ties for students to talk, listen, write, read, and reflect on the content,
ideas, issues, and concerns of the course they are taking via distance
learning. These elements involve cognitive activities that allow stu
dents to clarify questions, consolidate information, and appropriate
new knowledge. These activities, however, need to be well structured
and guided by instructors: Teachers serve not only as sources of disci
plinary expertise but also as facilitators of learning. The expanding
world of computers, interactive videos, and telecommunications can
help instructors create instructional resources that engage their stu
dents in active learning. In this section, we present examples of strate
gies to promote students’ engagement in learning.
1. Create assignments that engage students in learning by doing. A vari

ety of methods practiced in on-campus courses can be adapted to pro
mote active learning in distance education courses. Students may be
given an assignment that requires them to use the Internet to gather
information not available in the library. Working on this type of assign

ment allows them to (a) learn how to find information on a given topic;
(b) become aware of the differences in the quality of what is available;
(c) realize that some of these articles have not received the level of scru
tiny that is given to manuscripts accepted for publication; (d) develop
the criteria they will use to discriminate between poor- and high-
quality material; and (e) synthesize the findings from their search and
present them in a systematic manner. Another strategy is to design data
analysis exercises that students can complete by using instructor-
provided data or a database available via the Internet. Although all
students appreciate clearly structured learning assignments and sched
ules, this is especially true for students working at a distance. In creat
ing the exercises aimed at engaging students in data analysis, it is criti
cal that they receive detailed information on the intended learning
objectives, the database to be used and how it is accessed, what analy
ses need to be performed, and how the results are to be reported. One of
us employs this approach in an introductory statistics distance course
taught with videotaped presentations. These assignments, inter
spersed throughout the course, provide students with problems of
varying difficulty level. To help students check the accuracy of their
work, the study package also includes answers to the analyses. When
they have questions related to these assignments, they contact the in
structor by toll-free telephone or e-mail.
As another variation of this assignment, the instructor may ask stu
dents to collect data to be analyzed using the techniques they have
learned in the course to answer a list of questions. In one of our courses,
students are required to design a questionnaire to test their hypotheses,
administer it to collect the needed data, conduct data analysis, and pre
pare a research report. We provide written comments on various parts
of the students’ work, which leads to highly beneficial discussions re
garding their experience with the assignment and its implications.
Many courses and programs involve more than lectures and dis
cussions. Laboratories are a standard part of most science courses: Stu
dents learn science by doing science, often with expensive equipment
or potentially dangerous substances that must be handled in controlled
environments. Professional programs in the health fields require clini
cal experiences—opportunities for students to learn by doing under
the guidance of a licensed professional in a hospital, clinic, or similar
setting. These are but two examples.
Good Practices 37
Distance programs or courses incorporating labs, clinical experi

ences, and similar internships have special, although not insurmount
able, challenges. For example, simple laboratory exercises for introduc
tory or liberal arts science courses often can be constructed using
everyday materials found around the house or readily available at
hardware, grocery, and drugstores. Students can be led through the ex
ercises with videos, Web pages, and printed manuals. As long as the
materials can be used and disposed of safely, this approach may be
quite successful. Extensive, detailed instructions and safety warnings
must be provided. (Potential liability issues should be discussed with
the institution’s legal counsel.) If the main purpose of the laboratory ex
ercise is the development of observational skills, data analysis, and
problem-solving based on real data rather than on development of ma
nipulative skills, a videotape, CD, or streaming video clip of the experi
ment could be created for students. Indeed, having the ability to repeat
edly view the action “up close and personal” may actually be superior
to having students perform the experiment poorly once or twice.
Clinical experience and sophisticated labs require students to
gather at a particular site. The number of sessions, and hence the travel
required of students, can be reduced with careful organization: A num
ber of exercises can be scheduled within a half-day or full-day meeting,
or it might be possible to create a single exercise integrating elements
from several lessons. Alternatively, the necessary meetings could form
the basis of a residential experience at the conclusion of the course. A
third option is to make arrangements with another institution for pro
viding the clinical or laboratory experience. As we said, incorporating
labs or clinical experience into a distance education course or program
can be challenging, so whether these course elements are necessary
should be carefully considered.
2. Design assignments that involve time-delayed exchange of ideas be

tween two or more students. In a number of distance courses in psychol
ogy and education, we ask students to read published articles, prepare
critiques, and share their drafts with a classmate for peer review. This
allows them to discuss what they have written, obtain constructive
feedback, reflect on the issues raised during discussion, and incorpo
rate significant changes in the critiques they have prepared. These cog
nitive activities occur within student-formed learning pairs. Students
fax or mail their assignments to the study partner, exchange detailed
written comments, and then discuss by telephone the feedback they

have received. When they submit the assignment to the instructor, stu
dents include both the preliminary draft, the final copy of the critique,
and the reflection on what they experienced and learned in completing
various phases of this project. Developing and assessing this assign
ment require the instructors to provide individualized feedback and to
create the specific guidelines and structures that students need to have
a good learning experience, but we have found that this instructional
strategy incorporates the key elements of active learning—talking and
listening, reading, writing, and reflecting on the experiences.
3. Invite students to give a demonstration of a skill they have learned.

Student learning outcomes in many courses include acquisition of new
skills. Examples include these: (a) A social work course requires that
the students develop skills in conducting interviews with clients repre
senting diverse backgrounds; (b) a psychology course includes admin
istering an individual intelligence test (such as Stanford-Binet or
Wechsler Intelligence Scale) to a 7-year-old student who is having diffi
culty in school; and (c) a chemistry course includes analyzing a given
sample. Whether students are enrolled in on-campus courses or in dis
tance learning programs, performing these tasks allows them to apply
what they have learned, engages them in active learning, and prepares
them for the world of work. With innovative use of television (live and
recorded), telephone line-based teleconferencing, and computer-aided
communications, these skill-based courses bring students and profes
sors together despite their physical separation. In a social work course,
one of us uses television to monitor students when they are conducting
interviews at two sites. A similar approach can be employed when stu
dents are conducting analysis in the chemistry laboratory or adminis
tering an intelligence test in a remote location. (An on-site assistant su
pervisor may be needed, as in the case of laboratory work.) The
individualized feedback and direction that students receive from the
instructor in these cases significantly enhance the quality of the dis
tance learning experience.
Good Practice 4: Give prompt feedback.
Knowing what you know and don’t know focuses learning. Students
need appropriate feedback on performance to benefit from courses.
Good Practices 39
When getting started, students need help in assessing existing knowl

edge and competence. In classes, students need frequent opportuni
ties to perform and receive suggestions for improvement. At various
points during college, and at the end, students need chances to reflect
on what they have learned, what they still need to know, and how to
assess themselves. (Chickering & Gamson, 1991, pp. 18-19)
Because many distance learning students experience limited face

to-face contact, they appreciate receiving timely, frequent, and helpful
feedback regarding their progress toward the goals and objectives of
the course. They hope to have their work treated with respect, to re
ceive an explanation and justification given for the grade awarded, and
to receive a clear explanation of how they could improve. They rightly
expect that the feedback will have a helpful attitude or tone and will
provide them appropriate reassurance about their abilities. In addition,
students appreciate specific comments on the strengths and weak
nesses of their work and a constructive challenge concerning what
could yet be improved. Although these expectations could reasonably
be expected to apply to all students, including those enrolled in cam-
pus-based programs, they are made more poignant by the limited face
to-face contact experienced by students at a distance. We have found
that students cherish receiving prompt feedback in distance education
courses because it enables them to make the necessary adjustments to
achieve the expected learning outcomes. This continuing contact be
tween the instructor and the students also contributes toward high
rates of course completion.
In this section, we present some examples of strategies for provid
ing students with feedback to help promote learning and improve per
formance. Before doing so, however, we must emphasize that the
course syllabus should indicate clearly the time the instructor needs to
review students’ work and make individualized comments on assign
ments before the students can expect to have their work returned. Al
though the turnaround time is affected by class size, instructor’s work
load, and the number of assignments and exams, students appreciate
instructors’ adhering to the stated response time. This helps them plan
how they will use the feedback in making the necessary changes and in
proceeding with the next unit of the course.
Two additional points regarding assignment submission for feed
back are worth noting: (a) The syllabus should include a reminder
suggesting that students keep file copies of all material they submit un
til after the end of the term, and (b) any assignment sent either elec
tronically or by postal service should be acknowledged as soon as it is
received. Instructors do not have to wait until they have had a chance to
evaluate a submission—a simple “I got your assignment today” mes
sage suffices. This practice both lets students rest easy knowing the in
structor has received their work and provides a personal touch for a
distance education course in lieu of face-to-face contact.
1. React to students’ first draft of the paper and give suggestions for mak
ing revisions. Detailed feedback from instructors and peers helps stu
dents learn to revise and rewrite their drafts. They discover in this pro
cess that feedback is central to learning and improving performance.
Providing feedback takes time, however. Instructors may save time by
encouraging peer feedback, self-evaluations, and shorter papers. One
strategy is to create dyads or subgroups of three or four students and
have each pair or group read and comment on each other’s papers us
ing the criteria that have been included with the assignment. Students
then revise their papers—even drafts—before submitting them for final
grading. This approach is not at all unreasonable, given the availability
of word processors and electronic mail. Although focused comments
facilitate learning, their effect is twice as great if the students have a
chance to revise their papers incorporating the suggestions that in
structors provide (Hillocks, 1982). Following the strategy developed by
Barbara Cambridge (1996), instructors may ask the students to attach
three questions regarding specific items about which they seek com
ment or suggestions. This approach encourages students to develop
the ability to evaluate their own writing and gives instructors some
guidance on where to focus their comments. Another practice is to pro
vide students with the criteria that will be used in evaluating their
work. These criteria may then be used as benchmarks or targets in re
viewing student papers and providing them with detailed feedback.
Keeping a systematic record of these comments allows the instructor
and students to monitor their development throughout the course.
Some instructors assign course grades based on students’ entire portfo
lios, rather than grading each paper separately.
2. Encourage students to develop portfolios documenting the progress

they have made in the course or the program as a whole. Portfolios provide
Good Practices 41
students with an excellent means of documenting what has been ac

complished through time. They might include early as well as later ex
amples of student papers or other assignments to demonstrate the
progress they made. In the preceding section, we noted the benefits of
outlining the evaluation criteria and using them to provide students
with individualized feedback on their work. Keeping a systematic re
cord of these as a part of the course or program portfolio allows the stu
dents to monitor their progress during the course. Instructors may also
ask the students to write a commentary assessing change and growth
that they have experienced during the term and outlining focus areas
they plan to address in the course(s) they will take in the following
term. In the master of education program offered via distance education
at The College of St. Scholastica, we invite students to turn in their anno
tated reports, papers, and assignments in a folder first as a rough draft
for ungraded feedback on the portfolio that will eventually be graded.
We agree with Angelo and Cross (1993) that unless the portfolio is
clearly linked to other graded assignments, and is itself graded, some
students will refuse to expend the time and effort it requires. In addi
tion, we have found that all students, especially those enrolled in dis
tance courses, appreciate receiving specific instructions on items such
as papers to keep in the portfolio, questions to address in preparing the
annotations, themes to emphasize in writing the synthesis, and the cri
teria to use in reporting their progress. To be sure, portfolios take sig
nificant student time to prepare and instructor time to assess, but they
contribute substantially to increasing students’ self-awareness, helping
them monitor their progress, and enhancing their awareness of how
they learn and how they think. These are, indeed, important skills that
help students become active participants in their own learning.
3. Create simulations and quizzes with inherent feedback. Distance

learners commonly express a lack of awareness of how well they are
performing in the course, what concepts and principles they are learn
ing, what areas they are having difficulty in mastering, and what
knowledge and skills they are developing. In addition to a need for op
portunities for self-assessment and prompt feedback, these students
also express a need for learning activities that give them an opportunity
to apply the abstract concepts and principles covered in the course. To
address these needs, instructors should consider using instructional
materials that include learning activities such as study questions, case
studies with questions, quizzes, exercises, and review tests. In other

words, the criteria for selection of instructional materials for a distance
education course are significantly different from those in choosing the
materials for on-campus courses.
An online undergraduate course on aging and diversity that one of
us offers includes a number of case studies with follow-up questions.
Students post their responses to the discussion questions on the course
Web site, review what their classmates have to say, and share their reac
tions with each other. In addition to using case studies, the course also
includes self-tests/practice tests at the end of each unit. Students take
these quizzes, check their answers with the help of the key they are pro
vided, and restudy the areas in which they had more mistakes. Finally,
the course also includes assignments in which the students pursue ac
tivities such as (a) interviewing an older adult and writing a report
based on what they learned in the interview; (b) examining popular
magazines and assessing how older adults from different ethnic groups
are portrayed; and (c) conducting systematic observations of older
adults in a shopping mall and writing a brief report summarizing what
they have learned.
A number of commercial firms have created simulation software in
a variety of content areas having the potential to provide valuable
learning experiences to students who do not have access to a laboratory
or expensive equipment. Before instructors decide to use a given simu
lation, we highly recommend that they experience the simulation. This
allows them to assess the extent to which it matches the student learn
ing outcomes they had envisioned, prepare their own instructions that
students can easily follow, and evaluate the time needed to complete
the simulation. It is also important to ensure that the students have ac
cess to the technology needed to use the simulation software.
4. Use e-mail for providing detailed person-to-person feedback. Regard

less of the mode of course delivery (e.g., television, videotapes, audio
tapes, and print materials), e-mail is a valuable tool for maintaining
contact with the students and affording the instructor a ready means of
providing individualized feedback, advice concerning difficulties that
students may be experiencing, and suggestions for facilitating the
learning process. Although communicating with the students via e-
mail allows instructors to respond to their questions, address their indi
vidual learning needs, and respond to the concerns that may arise, it
Good Practices 43
does take considerable time. For this reason, it is wise to create some
guidelines in this regard and include them in the course syllabus. For
example, instructors may decide to (a) provide individualized feed
back to each student on his or her assignments; (b) create an e-mail mes
sage for the class as a whole with the goal of sharing observations on
the exams or assignments immediately after they have been graded;
and (c) allow students to contact instructors if there is a need to discuss
their performance on the exam they recently took. This three-part ap
proach is similar to the approach that many instructors take in their
campus-based courses. It meets students’ needs for guidance and sup
port and, at the same time, does not create heavy demands on instruc
tor time.
Good Practice 5: Emphasize time on task.
Time plus energy equals learning. Learning to use one’s time well is
critical for students and professionals alike. Allocating realistic
amounts of time means effective learning for students and effective
teaching for faculty. (Chickering & Gamson, 1991, pp. 19-20)
Whether students are attending on-campus classes, enrolled in a

distance education course, or participating in a program in which the
entire curriculum is offered via distance learning, their achievement is
affected by the time and energy that they devote to course activities. To
be sure, new technologies can dramatically improve student efficiency
in performing various tasks. Many students, however, need training in
selecting and using appropriate technology effectively and efficiently.
This is especially true for distance education students who may be
located in smaller communities with limited exposure to state-of-the
art technologies. If this is the population that the course plans to serve,
instructors may consider providing a technology tutorial about what
equipment to buy, what software to acquire, and how to accomplish
tasks required in the course.
1. Help students learn how to use technology to access learning re

sources. Learning to use one’s time well is critical. Students may make
better use of available time when they can access learning resources
through the Internet. A study guide for distance learning courses
should include information on using online library catalogs, conduct
ing literature searches through pertinent databases, and saving the rel
evant information from the search. Students appreciate having this in
formation presented in a user-friendly language and style. For
example, for a course in psychology, instructors may consider includ
ing in the study guide a list of selected databases available in behav
ioral and social sciences. Another possibility may be to include an ex
ample of an entry from the database, such as the one shown in Table 3.1
from the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) database.
Presenting such an example allows instructors to (a) demonstrate
what information the students will be able to obtain from a search of the
databases; (b) discuss what such searches can or cannot provide; and
(c) explain how students should proceed after completing the initial
search using their personal computer from home. Learning how to
search databases is helpful to students not only in the present but also
in later courses, research projects, work life, and continuing education.
2. Include an orientation to effective study skills. On the first day of an

on-campus class, many instructors provide their students with tips on
how to do well in the course. They suggest strategies such as coming to
class regularly, reading the required materials, completing the given as
signments on time, reviewing the notes they take in the course, finding
a study partner, and meeting the instructor right away when questions
arise. Including such a discussion in the beginning motivates students
to do well in the course, reminds them of effective study skills, and
helps them remain focused on the task at hand. Given the independent
study that distance learning courses entail, a similar discussion of ef
fective learning strategies for distance education students should be
included in the course syllabus or study guide. Describe basics such
as how to study independently, how to manage time and stress, how
to find a study buddy, and how to make contact with the instructor.
Table 3.2 is an excerpt from a section on how to study the textbook
included in the syllabus for a distance education course on aging and
diversity taught by one of us.
In addition to including an overview of how to study, instructors
may also suggest sources available via the Internet, libraries, or book
stores. Most of these guidebooks include coverage not only of study
techniques but also of time and stress management, reading, taking
notes, writing papers, taking tests, and other activities that lead to im
proved performance. Examples of useful books on this topic include
Good Practices 45
TABLE 3.1 Database Entry From ERIC
ERIC NO: ED429558

Title: Giving Psychology Away Through Technology-Based Instruction
Author: Mehrotra, Chandra M.
Language: English
Descriptors: Access to Education; Computer Uses in Education; *Distance
Education; Educational Principles; *Educational Technology; Educational
Trends; Guidelines; Higher Education; *Information Technology;
*Instructional Design; Lifelong Learning
Identifiers: Learner Centered Instruction; *Technology Based Instruction
Abstract: This paper outlines key features of good distance education,
drawing upon principles for good practice in undergraduate education and
recorded experiences with distance learning programs in a number of
content areas. The first section defines distance education and provides a
historical perspective. Five interrelated phenomena that have accompanied
the rapid growth of information technology to promote widespread use of
distance learning are described in the second section, including the
emergence of lifelong learning, learning centered instruction, providing
access, rapid advances in technology and the psychology of learning, and
increased interest in part-time study. The third section offers
recommendations for good distance education, and the last section
summarizes the following lessons learned as a result of offering both
undergraduate and graduate courses via distance learning: include adequate
details in the syllabus, break the course into modules; conduct periodic
assessment; encourage contact between students and faculty; and promote
interaction between students. One figure presents a historical perspective of
the phases of distance education. (DLS)
Geographic Source: U.S. Minnesota
Clearinghouse No: IR019567
Publication Type: 142; 150
Publication Date: 1998
EDRS Price: EDRS Price MF01/PC01 Plus Postage.
Comments: Paper presented at the Annual Convention of the American
Psychological Association (106th, San Francisco, CA, August 14-18, 1998).
Page: 10
Level: 1
TABLE 3.2 How to Study the Textbook
Outlined below are some specific suggestions that may be helpful to you in
accomplishing the course objectives effectively and efficiently. To learn the
material effectively, make full use of the many distinctive features of the
textbook. Please note that each chapter includes (a) a preview with orienting
questions, (b) an introduction and a summary, (c) a number of vignettes
with discussion questions, (d) a range of active learning exercises that
involve ethnic elders, (e) quizzes and their keys, and (f) a glossary.
1. Orienting Questions: We suggest that you begin each chapter by reviewing
the orienting questions. They provide you with an overview of the content
covered in the chapter and suggest connections to be made during reading
across subdivisions of the chapter. These questions are also appropriate for
essay examinations; if you can write sensible meaty paragraphs to these
questions, you have grasped the main themes. In addition to these orienting
questions, you may also consider taking a quick look at the summary before
reading the chapter itself. This will also speed up reading and improve
comprehension.
2. Discussion Questions: Each chapter includes a number of vignettes and
other active learning experiences with discussion questions. You should
make an effort to complete all the learning activities. During the course
you will be submitting written responses to three activities that have been
chosen by your instructor. Also, each week you will be posting responses on
the electronic bulletin board to discussion questions for activities selected by
the instructor.
3. Quizzes: After you have read a given chapter, we suggest that you take
the quiz provided at the end of the narrative. In addition to indicating
whether a given statement is true or false, it may also be beneficial to outline
why you selected a given response. In other words, you should consider
items in a quiz as invitations to think about principles, issues, and research
related to aging and diversity. Writing brief answers to these items and
checking them with the answer key will provide valuable feedback, will
allow you to monitor the progress you are making, and will enhance your
understanding of the content included in the chapter.
4. Glossary: Following the chapter quiz is a glossary that reviews briefly the
meaning of many of the technical terms included in the chapter. These short
and simple statements are less formal than a dictionary definition, but they
should be easy to remember. The textbook discussion of a term is usually
more complete, and to locate the discussion, you should turn to the subject
index. Please note that often the discussion for new concepts is divided,
appearing at two or more places. Such division of material should help in
learning because it provides additional information on concepts introduced
earlier.
Good Practices 47
How to Study in College (Pauk, 1997), More Learning in Less Time

(Kahn, 1998), Studying Smart (Scharf-Hunt & Hait, 1990), and The Dis
tance Learner’s Guide (Connick, 1999). Online resources include
Dartmouth College’s Learning Strategy Guides (n.d.), UCLA’s Thinking
Critically About World Wide Web Resources (Grassian, 2000), and Purdue
University’s Evaluating Internet Sites (Sharkey, 2000).
Because few of these study skills materials were designed for stu
dents enrolled in distance learning courses or programs, students will
need to adapt some of the recommendations and techniques to the de
livery mode that they are using. In addition, students should be re
minded that beyond reading about how to study, they need to learn the
study skills by putting them into practice!
Good Practice 6: Communicate high expectations.
Expect more and you will get it. High expectations are important for
everyone—for the poorly prepared, for those willing to exert them
selves, and for the bright and well motivated. Expecting students to
perform well becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. (Chickering &
Gamson, 1991, pp. 20-21)
Communicating high expectations on a continuing basis plays a

critical role in sustaining student motivation. Although communicat
ing such expectations is important for students in all courses, it is espe
cially important for students enrolled in distance education courses,
who do not see instructors on a regular basis and may not be aware of
their standards. The course goals that instructors establish, the instruc
tional materials that they select, the teaching methods that they use, the
assignments that they design, and the feedback mechanisms that they
create play a critical role in providing students an indicator of what in
structors expect them to learn, how to learn it, and at what level.
Clearly articulating expectations in the beginning sets the tone for the
course and performs a motivational function for the students. In this
section, we suggest some helpful approaches for communicating high
expectations to students.
Because the goals influence all the activities in the course, they
should be challenging and should be communicated clearly. This dis
cussion should not be limited to the beginning of the course but should
transpire regularly in relating topics, learning activities, assignments,
and assessment methods to the established goals for the course. In one
of our distance education courses, the goals are included as an integral
component of each learning activity. This approach allows the students
to understand why they need to complete a certain assignment, what
outcomes it will help them to achieve, and how they will recognize
achieving the goals. Using this approach also implies the value of
clearly communicating the criteria to be used for evaluating student
work in each of the learning activities.
Another strategy for communicating instructor expectations to dis
tance education students requires sharing with them samples of excel
lent, average, mediocre, and poor performance. These examples—
drawn from the work submitted by former students (with personal
identifiers deleted)—make expectations concrete, help students dis
tinguish between different levels of performance, allow them to link
assignments with the goals, and stimulate them to meet instructor ex
pectations. It also helps to include a description of the original assign
ment and a commentary on why the job was rated excellent, average,
and so on.
Students should be encouraged to show instructors electronically
a rough draft of their papers, assignments, or project reports for com
ments and suggestions. Providing detailed comments on the draft it
self about suggested changes allows instructors to assess the extent to
which the student incorporated comments into the final version of the
assignment. Experience indicates that providing detailed comments on
an individualized basis is highly effective in communicating expecta
tions, in monitoring students’ progress, and in assessing students’ use
of feedback at various stages of the assignment.
Instructors should engage students in self-reflection and self-eval
uation. All learning, especially in distance courses, is to some extent
self-learning and must be self-guided and self-motivated. The more
students know about themselves as learners, the better they will be at
guiding their own learning. Angelo and Cross (1993) have developed a
number of techniques that may be adapted to promote the develop
ment of sophisticated self-assessment skills in students. One of these
techniques, the diagnostic learning log, may be particularly useful in dis
tance education courses. This technique asks the students to keep a re
cord of the process they used for each topic or assignment. For each
topic, they prepare one list of the main points they understood and a
second list of points that were unclear. For assignments, they record
problems encountered or errors made, as well as excellent and success
Good Practices 49
ful responses. On a regular basis, they reflect, analyze, and summarize

the information they have collected on their own learning. This helps
them diagnose their strengths and weaknesses as learners and stimu
lates them to generate possible remedies for problems. As Angelo and
Cross report, this technique encourages students to become more self-
reflective, active, and independent learners. In addition, it provides the
instructors with valuable data on students’ metacognitive skills—their
skills at observing, evaluating, and criticizing their own learning. Fur
thermore, monitoring of student logs will help instructors keep track of
what the students do and do not understand. This information then can
be used to make modifications and improvements in the instructional
materials in subsequent terms in which the course is taught.
Good Practice 7: Respect diverse talents and ways of learning.
Many roads lead to learning. Different students bring different talents

and styles to college. Brilliant students in a seminar might be all
thumbs in a lab or studio; students rich in hands-on experience may
not do so well with theory. Students need opportunities to show their
talents and learning in ways that work for them. Then they can be
pushed to learn in new ways that do not come so easily. (Chickering &
Gamson, 1991, pp. 21-22)
Given the variability in student needs, life experiences, levels of

knowledge, and approaches to learning, instructors may find it benefi
cial to begin collecting information regarding their students’ back
ground and preferences. Although it may not be possible to accommo
date all the learning styles and preferences in teaching, instructors will
do better jobs than if they know nothing about the students they will be
teaching. Conducting such a survey by available technology (e-mail,
mail questionnaire, etc.) also communicates personal interest in stu
dents and conveys that instructors will do their best in using the infor
mation they provide about themselves. Furthermore, completing such
a survey provides the students an opportunity for self-reflection and
self-assessment.
Having an awareness of students’ current strengths, knowledge,
and learning preferences will be helpful in selecting the learning re
sources, the modes of delivery, design of assignments, and assessment
procedures for the course. In addition to the needs and preferences of
the learners, course content, its outcomes, and the constraints faced by
the instructor also affect the selection of the instructional resources and
delivery system. Taking all these factors into account will most likely
result in a mix of teaching tools and technology, each serving a specific
purpose. For example, a distance education course may use (a) well-or
ganized print materials that promote active learning, (b) the Internet as
an information resource, (c) electronic interaction among the students
and between the students and the instructor, (d) group projects, and (e)
field experiences. Although this is not a comprehensive list of all possi
ble instructional tools and technologies, it is given here to illustrate that
effective teaching uses a variety of methods to help students achieve
the course outcomes.
In light of the continuing increase in cultural and ethnic diversity in
distance learning courses, it is important to ensure that course content
(particularly in humanities and behavioral and social sciences) is inclu
sive of multicultural norms and intellectual interests and is sensitive to
the needs of students from different ethnic groups. Increased cultural
diversity in the student population provides a further impetus for mak
ing study skills and language/writing supports integral elements of
the course design. Indeed, many distance education courses—what
ever the delivery method—include instructional units on study skills,
library research, and writing papers and project reports.
Instructors must respond flexibly to the diverse backgrounds that
students bring to their study. Although rich arrays of learning tech
niques and information technologies have become available to support
flexible learning, instructors facilitate learning by advising students on
resources and modes of study that are consistent with their needs,
backgrounds, learning styles, and preferences. Thus, the instructors
should not only be knowledgeable about available resources, technolo
gies, and learning strategies but also be open to accepting different
ways of achieving the expected outcomes. In other words, increased
diversity makes it imperative to use flexible, student-centered ap
proaches to learning.
Summary Tips
• Provide students with an e-mail address for the instructor; encourage

them to use this method for routine contact.
• Provide students with a toll-free telephone number for urgent contact.

Good Practices 51
• Moderate online discussions, summarizing main points, and indicate

when it is appropriate to close a discussion and move on to another
topic.
• Provide students with information needed to contact each other, con

sistent with privacy laws and individual choice.
• Encourage off-site work in teams to promote group learning.

• Create assignments in which students act as peer reviewers, providing
feedback to each other.
• Design assignments that cause students to learn by doing.

• Provide opportunities for students to demonstrate application of skills
they have learned through videotape, interactive television, live pre
sentations, and so on.
• Acknowledge receiving assignments.

• Indicate when graded assignments are to be returned, and adhere to
the schedule.
• Provide feedback on assignments—offer encouraging comments as

well as corrections.
• Justify the assignment grade in relation to the comments and correc

tions.
• Return an assignment before another that builds on it is due to be sub

mitted by students.
• Provide students with self-tests and other diagnostic tools for them to
assess their own progress.
• Improve retention by contacting students who appear to be falling be

hind in meeting class obligations.
• Provide tips on effective study techniques for the course.

• Provide a tutorial on technology skills.
• Plainly state performance expectations, and reinforce those throughout
the course.
• Give specific examples that translate expectations into grading prac

tices.
• Determine student learning styles and adjust teaching method accord

ingly.
Our companion Web site provides additional examples of strate

gies that have been used to promote active learning in distance edu
cation courses. There are also links to online newsletters, journals, re
ports, and other publications illustrating creative approaches for
building a community of learners and fostering student learning in dis
tance courses.
References
Angelo, T. A., & Cross, K. P. (1993). Classroom assessment techniques: A handbook
for college teachers (2nd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Cambridge, B. (1996, December). Looking ahead. AAHE Bulletin, 49(4), 10-11.
Chickering, A. W., & Gamson, Z. F. (1991). Seven principles for good practice in
undergraduate education. In A. W. Chickering & Z. F. Gamson, Applying
the seven principles for good practice in undergraduate education (pp. 63-69).
San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Connick, G. P. (Ed.). (1999). The distance learner’s guide. Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Prentice Hall.
Grassian, E. (2000). Thinking critically about World Wide Web resources. Los
Angeles: UCLA College Library. Retrieved April 2, 2001, from the World
Wide Web: www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/college/help/critical/
index.htm
Hillocks, G. (1982). The interaction of instruction, teacher comment, and revi
sion in teaching the composing process. Research in Teaching of English, 16,
261-278.
Kahn, N. B. (1998). More learning in less time: A guide for students, professionals,
career changers, and lifelong learners (5th ed.). Gwynedd Valley, PA: Ways-to
Books.
Learning strategy guides. (n.d.). Hanover, NH: Darmouth College. Retrieved
April 2, 2001, from the World Wide Web: www.dartmouth.edu/~acskills/
right_les_lsg.html
Pauk, W. (1997). How to study in college. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Scharf-Hunt, D., & Hait, P. (1990). Studying smart: Time management for college
students. New York: HarperPerennial.
Sharkey, J. (2000). Evaluating Internet sites. West Lafayette, IN: Purdue Univer
sity Libraries. Retrieved April 2, 2001, from the World Wide Web: www.lib.
purdue.edu/InternetEval/textintro/tresources.html
4
The Syllabus for Distance

Learning Courses
I n this chapter, we confront several questions: What is a

syllabus? Should the syllabus for a distance education course differ from
one for a comparable on-campus class? If so, how? What do the seven
principles for good practices in education (see Chapter 3) suggest about
the construction of a syllabus? How and when should the syllabus be
transmitted to the student?
Before beginning, we need to define several terms as they are used
in the text. The study guide or course manual is a packet (often printed
and bound) containing all the noncommercial materials that the in
structor has assembled for the course. Typically, the guide contains
supplementary items such as lecture notes, handouts, photocopied
material (secure copyright permission!), reference lists, samples of old
exams or assignments, and so on. Of course, these materials can be
made available online.
53
The syllabus is the description of the nuts and bolts of the course.
The course outline or schedule is the chronological listing of course activi
ties (readings, lectures, assignments, and exams) intended to guide stu
dents to achieving mastery of course objectives. Both the syllabus and
course outline are often included in the study guide.
What Is a Syllabus?
If you ask 10 faculty members to define the word syllabus, you are most
likely to get 10 answers. Educators are not unlike the judge who wrote,
“The court may not be able to define obscenity, but it knows it when it
sees it.” We may readily recognize a colleague’s document as a syllabus
but heartily disagree about what should be included in it. Perhaps this
is as it should be: Just as no one size of shoe can possibly fit everyone’s
foot, no one style of syllabus can be appropriate for every type of class.
For this reason, our approach will be suggestive, rather than prescrip
tive. We will describe the many elements that could be included in a syl
labus and invite readers to decide which are the most appropriate to in
clude or emphasize for the purposes of a particular course.
A syllabus answers the who, what, where, when, why, and how
questions about a course, such as the following:
• Who should take this course? Who is teaching it? Who does a student
contact for help with technology problems associated with taking the
course at a distance?
• What institution is providing the course? What is this class about?

What will students know and be able to do as a result of following the
plan of studies for this course? What are the prerequisite or corequisite
classes and experiences needed? What are the required and recom
mended reading materials and supplies? What is the mode of delivery
of the course? What topics are covered in this class? What are the pro
gram and course policies?
• How are students evaluated? How are course grades determined?

What are the grading standards?
• When are assignments due, and how are they to be submitted? What
supplemental, noncredit learning activities are available to students
who wish to pursue the subject further?
Syllabus for Distance Learning Courses 55
• Why should a student take this class? Why might it be better to take this
class via distance learning rather than on-campus (or vice versa)?
• How can the instructor be contacted? How does the student at a dis
tance access library and other support services?
More Than a List
One common view of a course syllabus regards it merely as a list of

“things to remember” and “things to do.” From this perspective, the
document can be short, quickly written, and amended by the instructor
as the course proceeds. Although this approach may work for a tradi
tional on-campus course, it invites immediate frustration and time inef
ficiency in the context of a distance education course. Either students
will have to be contacted with clarifications and explanations, or the in
structor needs to be prepared for an avalanche of phone calls and e-
mails asking for explanations.
Quite plainly, the syllabus for a distance learning course needs to
be more detailed than for the corresponding on-campus course because
there are more issues that must be addressed. To do otherwise is to
doom students and the faculty to unnecessary frustration and wasted
time. It may also result in loss of tuition revenue. (We are not implying
that shoddy syllabi for on-campus courses are acceptable—but rather
that distance education creates new demands that must be addressed
in a syllabus.)
We suggest that the instructor and students in a distance education
course view the syllabus as the organizing principle or planning docu
ment for the entire course. It can be constructed to connect the readings,
assignments, course objectives, and resource materials in a coherent or
der that flows from the beginning to the end of the class. It need not
contain information about every conceivable matter pertinent to the
course, but it can point the students to the right place to obtain the in
formation. A syllabus also provides a document that the student can
submit to another institution for evaluation of transfer credit for the
course.
In the remaining part of this chapter, we will demonstrate the con
struction of a syllabus for a hypothetical distance learning course,
guided by the seven principles for good practices in education de

scribed in Chapter 3.
Outline for a Syllabus: Putting It Together
As we mentioned before, our intent here is to describe an idealized doc

ument for a course, not to pontificate. Individual instructors are the
best judges of what must be included for their courses. But we repeat: It
is imperative to carefully think out the whole course in advance and
clearly communicate plans to students—the sooner the better. To do
otherwise is to court frustration and dissatisfaction for both students
and instructor.
Conversely, there is danger in making a syllabus so extensive that
students fail to read it. Some of the items in the outline below might
well be addressed in another document or source, for example, issues
relating to the types of technology requirements for the class. We rec
ommend, however, that the syllabus at least call attention to such items
and direct the students to the other source. Thus, the syllabus can pro
vide a lot of direction to the students without being overly long. Fol
lowing is the outline of a possible syllabus.
I. Identifiers. These “headline” items constitute a miniature cata

log or bulletin description of the course. Including this infor
mation provides the students with a succinct reminder of the
big picture.
A. Name of college or university sponsoring course
B. Course number, name, and credit
C. Term or dates this course is being offered
D. Course description: A short paragraph should indicate

what topics the course covers, whom the course is in
tended to serve (general audience or specific field or pro
fession), what the course intends to provide the student as
major outcomes, any prerequisites or corequisites, and its
place in the sequence of a larger program, if appropriate.
The description may well be the same as the copy in the
university bulletin or catalog, but placing the thumbnail

paragraph here provides a convenient reminder to the
students and any reviewer who later may need to evalu
ate the course for transfer credit.
II. Instructor information. Because students may never meet face

to-face with the instructor, it is important that they do know
when and how to contact the teacher. By providing some wel
coming comments to students, the instructor may also make
the distance education experience less impersonal and sterile.
A. Name and position (a short description of the instructor’s

earned degrees and experience in the field bearing on this
course may be appropriate): If the course is being team
taught, the syllabus should clearly indicate if both instruc
tors may be contacted about any aspect of the course or
delineate which person is responsible for what portions of
the class.
B. Contact information: mailing address, phone number,

voice mail, fax number, and e-mail address. It is a good
idea to indicate both the preferred method of contact for
routine business and when instructors are most likely to be
in the office for immediate contact by phone. Do in
structors encourage, allow, or discourage students contact
ing them on weekends or at home?
C. Office hours: Will specific times during the week be dedi

cated for answering student questions individually or in a
group? If so, when? How? Do instructors plan to reply
immediately to e-mail messages at certain times? Will the
course have an Internet-based chat room or message
board? Will instructors make available a list of the ques
tions that students have asked (and answers)?
III. Technology tools. Students need a complete description of the

specific equipment required to access the course materials. If
this information applies to a program as a whole, it may be
better to provide the specifications in a separate document that
is referred to by the syllabus.
A. How is the course instruction being delivered? What sup

porting equipment does a student need to access it: radio,
TV-VCR, satellite link, fax, or cassette or audio reel player?
B. Do students require computers? If so, are there specific

hardware requirements for input devices (parallel, serial,
Universal Serial Bus [USB], FireWire, Small Computer Sys
tem Interface [SCSI]); memory; operating system (DOS,
Windows, Mac OS, Unix); and data retrieval (CD-ROM,
DVD, high-capacity disk reader such as Zip or Jaz)? Does
the student need an Internet connection? If so, what is the
minimum speed? Is a specific Web browser, file transfer
program, or word processor required? Are these provided
to students, or are students expected to acquire these on
their own? Is there campus support for long-distance
learners’ technology-related questions? If so, who? And
how are they contacted? Are any specific software pack
ages required for the course? If so, what are the memory
requirements?
C. Do students enrolled in distance learning courses have

campus computer network privileges for e-mail and other
software? If so, how do they go about setting up an account
and accessing it? Is technical support service available off-
campus, and if so, how?
IV. Course materials. Students need to know before the course starts
exactly what supplies they minimally need to complete the
course successfully and when in the course they will be used. It
is also important to distinguish between materials supplied or
lent out as part of the tuition and those that require further
financial expenditure by students.
A. What books, videos, printed materials, specialized sup

plies, and so on are required (i.e., essential to meet the min
imum demands of the course)? Where and how are stu
dents to obtain these? For example, are they available for
order as a complete package under the name of the course
through the university bookstore or the department offer
ing the course? For what cost? Are taxes and shipping
charges included? Can these be ordered online or by e-

mail? Are any of the materials being sent on loan, to be
returned at the end of the course, or will the bookstore buy
back any used materials for resale? Alternatively, these
materials can be placed on a course Web site or electronic
library—but copyright permissions should be secured
well in advance of when the materials are used in the
course.
B. If students are not ordering a prepackaged set of materials,

it is imperative that the syllabus provide complete infor
mation for ordering: name of item, author, edition, publi
cation date, publisher, ISBN number, Library of Congress
number, vendor, and price. It is also a good idea to indicate
the order in which the materials are needed in case stu
dents are not able to secure all the supplies at once. (Check
that all materials are indeed on hand at the campus book
store or outside vendor before the course starts. If students
are responsible for securing materials on their own, make
plans for how to address the needs of those who say they
“can’t get the stuff.”)
C. Are there supplemental recommended materials that stu

dents may find useful? If so, for what? Indicate those that
the students may find most useful. Again, provide the nec
essary ordering information.
V. Help with the coursework. Students routinely approach the

instructor with “how do I . . .” questions before or after class on
campus. To reduce students’ frustration with accomplishing
the basic educational goals of the course and to minimize the
time spent in contacting students about housekeeping chores,
it is important to inform students at the beginning of the course
of all the resources they could reasonably be expected to need
in completing their work.
A. Tips on how to study or approach this class: Instructors are

more than dispensers of information and graders of as
signments. An instructor not only shows students what to
study in a given area but provides guidance about how the
material can be most appropriately approached. (See Table

3.2 in Chapter 3 for a specific example.) Assuredly, not all
students have the same learning style. Even so, the teacher
of a distance education course can greatly facilitate the
progress of the students by passing on suggestions about
how to do the work. Not all the students will be experi
enced at distance learning. Some things that seem obvious
to the teacher are not obvious to the students looking at the
course for the first and only time. Perhaps the instructor
has gained some insights from previous experience with
other students taking the class at a distance that can be
passed along. For example,
• About how many hours a day or week should students

expect to spend on the coursework?
• What are the most important activities in the course?
• How can students organize the time spent on the course

most effectively?
• How should students organize their questions before

contacting the instructor?
• If there is no lecture to attend, why take notes? On what?

And how?
• What is the recommended way to approach the

readings?
• How should students prepare for exams in this course?
B. Library resources: Students may need to know how to

access reference materials at a distance. Describe how jour
nal articles, reserve materials, and general circulation
works can be secured from the university library or
through interlibrary loan.
C. Search services and databases: Are there Internet-based

database tools that students should be aware of and know
how to access? Do students understand the difference
between scholarly database search engines and those such
as Yahoo! and Excite that may point to nonrefereed mate

rial of questionable value?
D. Tutorial and counseling assistance: Is help available on
campus in person or at a distance with writing, personal
development, or other matters that affect course perfor
mance but that are not provided by the instructor directly?
Is supplemental learning material on reserve in the library
or online? What are the hours and phone number of the
bookstore? Is there a contact person for distance education
courses in the bookstore? If financial aid is available to dis
tance learners, to whom should student inquiries be
directed? (See also Chapter 7.)
E. Frequently asked questions: Perhaps some procedural or
content-related questions seem to recur each time the
course is taught on campus or at a distance. These could be
treated in a FAQ section, or better, students could be
directed by the syllabus to a Web site handling these ques
tions and their answers.
VI. Policies and legal issues. When both the instructor and students
know the “rules of the game” before play starts, both parties
are better served.
A. College or university policies that govern all courses
offered by the institution need not be reiterated in detail in
the syllabus. References to the appropriate pages in the
official bulletin or catalog are sufficient, provided students
have access to them.
B. Policies particular to this course must be explicated in an
unambiguous manner to avoid confusion or possible con
frontation with students. This suggestion provides guid
ance for the students, communicates instructor expecta
tions, reduces unnecessary argumentation, and offers the
instructor some protection from being considered capri
cious. A statement (a disclaimer) could be included saying
that the instructor can make adjustments in the plan of the
course if need arises. For example,
• When is an assignment late? If it is due on a particular

date, does it become late at the close of the business day,
after the instructor goes home, after the last mail deliv
ery, or at midnight?
• What is the penalty for work being submitted late?
Under what extenuating circumstances would the
instructor waive a penalty (if at all)?
• What is the instructor’s interpretation of the university
academic honesty policy? Yes, plagiarism and other mis
representation of authorship are dishonest, but the lim
its on receiving “help” on assignments from an outside
source should be specified. When students are permitted
to work together, must the collaborators be named and
the extent of contributed effort be delimited? Some of
these issues certainly can be covered in detail in the
direct context of a specific assignment.
• Is it permissible for students to consult the work of other
students who have previously completed the course?
For example, are old exams or assignments legitimate
study aids?
C. Special accommodations: The Americans With Disabilities
Act of 1990 requires that universities and colleges receiv
ing federal funds (pretty much all) make reasonable
accommodations to those students seeking access to edu
cational services. Long-distance education programs must
comply with these regulations as well. Students need to be
told whom to contact about arranging necessary accom
modation for special needs and when. In some institutions,
the contact may be the instructor; in others, the authority
may be a committee or designated administrative officer
who decides if the request is “reasonable” and suggests
what accommodations the instructor is required to make
for the student (see Chapter 7).
VII. Evaluation and grading. When people know that they will be
rewarded or punished for certain behaviors, they quite reason
ably adjust their actions to maximize their rewards or mini
mize punishment. Not surprisingly, students want to know

how to allocate their efforts in completing assignments. Fair
ness to students dictates that they be told the bottom line in a
course. (The instructor’s own self-interest is served as well:
Why set oneself up to possible charges of arbitrary grading?)
The weight allocated to each assignment or activity should
reflect the relative importance attached to the outcome it is
designed to assess. Students need to know the following:
A. How is the final course grade determined?
B. When are assignments due, when are they returned, and
how much does each contribute toward the final grade
computation?
C. If there are exams, are they taken on-campus, off-campus
with a proctor, off-campus under the honor system, or at a
designated off-campus site? Who is responsible for mak
ing arrangements with off-campus sites and proctors? Are
any special security protocols to be followed?
D. What is the instructor’s definition of A, B, C, D, and F
work? What are some examples of work considered exem
plary, average, and unsatisfactory? If work is of inferior
quality, do students have opportunities for recouping lost
points, or are the evaluations limited to the announced
assignments? Are grades assigned on an absolute scale
(independent of other students’ performance) or deter
mined in relation to the other students in the present or
past classes of the same course? Can grading standards be
expressed as a rubric or other tool that defines criteria for
grading and evaluation?
E. What penalties (if any) are assigned for work submitted
late? Will the instructor simply refuse to accept the assign
ment, assess a fixed debit to the grade each day, or lower
the grade according to a sliding scale proportional to the
number of days late and the value of the assignment?
F. If circumstances beyond the control of the student prevent
completion of coursework before the end of the term, what
are the policies about “incomplete” grades and extensions?
G. What should students do if they do not receive a satisfac

tory answer about the way in which their work has been
evaluated? Are there grievance or appeal procedures to be
observed?
VIII. Course content, learning objectives, and assignment schedule.

Finally, we get to the heart and soul of the course. The syllabus
at this point is much like a personal map drawn up in detail by
a travel club to help a driver navigate a set of unfamiliar roads
between two distant cities. If followed conscientiously, the
driver should be able to arrive at the intended destination with
much less aggravation than if left to his or her devices. After
all, the guides are familiar with the road conditions, any
detours, interesting places along the way, and decent accom
modations. The syllabus is the road map for students navigat
ing the journey through the course.
A. The instructor-guide must carefully organize the schedule
of readings, assignments, and activities before the course
begins to provide students a reasonable opportunity to
achieve the intended course outcomes—if, like the trav
eler, they stay alert and follow the trip plan prepared for
them. Before launching a course for tuition-paying stu
dents, the instructor may want to give it a dry run with
some willing guinea pigs or a review by an experienced
distance educator to detect any major pitfalls that might
have been overlooked.
B. Outlines for courses delivered by ITV linking a remote
audience with an on-campus class are not radically differ
ent from the on-campus version. Students need to know
what topic is being covered on a particular day and what
preparation they should make for the class. If laboratories
or sessions physically require students to be on-campus,
the syllabus should state the times and places for the meet
ings. If possible, several labs or on-campus activities can be
scheduled on the same day to use students’ time on cam
pus most efficiently. (Allowance for travel to and from the
campus should be considered when setting starting and
ending times.)
C. When a course is delivered asynchronously, students do

not gather as a community to see or hear the instructor, but
this does not rule out having shared experiences as part of
the course. As we pointed out in Chapter 3 on good prac
tices, students benefit from opportunities to interact with
each other and the instructor. To this end, the instructor
may choose to set up a discussion board or chat room to
facilitate class participation. In this case, the course sched
ule should denote the dates, times, subjects, and prepara
tion required for these group interactions. Students should
understand whether everyone needs to gather online at the
same time or merely “pop in” during a specified period.
The instructor should also indicate how participation in
these virtual meetings contributes to a student’s grade:
required or not? If required, how are student contributions
assessed—on the quantity and/or quality of the com
ments? What options do students have if they are unable to
participate in the group exercise?
D. When a course has little or no interaction among the partic
ipants, students have more flexibility about the time of day
that each devotes to class activities, but most will benefit
from having the instructor suggest the approximate or pro
portional time to spend on individual segments of the
course. This is especially important if students are permit
ted to submit assignments at the conclusion of the course,
rather than on a schedule throughout the course.
E. Students benefit from having a chronological big-picture
view of the course before a detailed schedule is presented.
For example, if five major concepts are developed in the
course, these can be used as unit or section titles, with brief
explanations of how the units are interrelated. If the units
must be attempted in a particular sequence, rather than
independently of each other, instructors should make this
clear, present the schedule in this order, and explain the
logic of the progression. Similarly, within a unit or section,
instructors should clearly delineate any necessary order in
which the work must be approached, or indicate if this is
simply a suggested sequence.
F. Increasingly, consumer students, taxpayers, and accredit

ing agencies alike want to know what a course “is good
for”: What knowledge, attitudes, and skills are the out
comes achieved by students successfully completing this
course? Providing this information is both good practice
and politically savvy. But where? Some faculty append a
list of learning objectives to their syllabi or provide them as
a separate document. We believe that it is important to
associate the learning objectives intimately with the partic
ular activities in a section or unit of the course. The dis
tance educator will not have the luxury of standing in front
of the students each day to call attention to a separate list of
objectives, whether it is included later in the syllabus or is a
separate document entirely. In our experience, the connec
tion between what the students are being asked to do and
the intended result is most obvious to the learners when
the syllabus is organized to show the following for each
section or unit:
• Learning objectives
• Readings and activities
• Assignments and their specifications, due dates, contri
bution to the course grade, and expected date for return
once assessed
Other Issues
When and how should the students receive the syllabus? Traditionally,
syllabi are distributed the first day of class on campus, with instructors
often spending that meeting reviewing the course outline and proce
dures and answering questions about the mechanics of the course. Un
less students come to the campus for an orientation or the instructor is
teaching live by interactive technology, this is not a viable option. We
suggest that students receive either a paper copy of the syllabus by
mail, a copy sent by e-mail, or instructions for obtaining online access
to a syllabus as soon as they have been registered for the course. This re
quires close collaboration between the registrar and the sponsoring de
partment or instructor but is well worth the effort. First, students may
discover that the course is not appropriate to their needs and have time
to drop it before the term starts. This enhances retention and reduces ef
fort spent on students who probably would not be able (or willing) to
complete the course. Second, early distribution of the syllabus also pro
vides students ample opportunity to peruse the course plan and clear
up any questions before the course gets in full swing. Third, making the
syllabus available as early as practical is both good teaching and busi
ness practice: It reciprocates the interest that the students have shown
in the institution.
Students, like the rest of us, often lose things. We suggest that in
structors provide an online version of the current syllabus that students
can download or make provision for sending replacements by fax or
mail on short notice.
Syllabi posted on Web sites can be static duplicates of the paper
version or can be made interactive. To make the syllabus viewable di
rectly on a Web page, the document has to be encoded in HTML format
before loading onto the server. Printing copies off a Web page can be
tedious for students with slow modem connections. Even if a viewable
copy is posted, a much faster way to provide a hard copy of the syllabus
is to set up a compressed file in a portable document format (PDF) such
as created by Adobe Acrobat. File transfer is much faster, and the same
formatting as the original is retained. If the instructor and students are
using the same word processing program, a compressed text file can
also be provided on the Web site for downloading, but this method
more likely will result in technical difficulties for students using differ
ent operating systems.
For courses that are delivered primarily through Web browsers, the
syllabus can be the home page for the class, linking students directly to
all materials specifically associated with a particular section of the
course. Alternatively, the course home page may have hyperlinks to the
syllabus, calendar, and all other sites relevant to the course.
Summary Tips
• Provide the syllabus as soon as students are registered.

• Make the syllabus the organizing document for the entire course.
• Clearly state all policies and assignments in the syllabus, or have the
syllabus refer students to other sources of explicit information.
• Do not anticipate making significant changes in the syllabus once the

course starts.
• Plan to deliver the syllabus in more than one format.

• If the course is delivered through a Web browser, the syllabus can be
designed as the home page for the course. If not, be sure to provide a
prominent link to the syllabus from the course home page.
On our companion Web site are examples of course syllabi for ac
tual distance education courses, suggestions for alternate presentations
of syllabi, and templates that you can copy to speed up your own work.
5
Delivery Methods
for Distance Education
A lthough distance learning sometimes may seem to be a

new development in education, it is not: Recall the often maligned corre
spondence courses of days past. What makes distance learning seem
new is the development and wide availability of new technologies for
connecting learner and instructor; the rapid pace at which these tech
nologies have been adopted by educational, governmental, and com
mercial organizations; and widespread publicity. Used expertly, these
new technologies facilitate the creation of educational experiences that
are equivalent or superior to the analogous on-campus course, reach
wider audiences, and better meet the needs of modern society. Used
poorly, these new technologies simply result in high-technology corre
spondence courses.
This chapter examines the methods available for delivery of dis
tance education, with an emphasis on the strengths and weaknesses,
69
advantages and disadvantages, of each. Our treatment is meant to be

purely descriptive, rather than a how-to manual. The next chapter ex
amines issues related to selecting and implementing appropriate deliv
ery methods in distance education.
Traditional classroom-based instruction requires the instructor and
student to meet in a particular place at a designated time. As its name
implies, distance education accommodates geographic or physical sep
aration between teacher and learner. But distance education also af
fords the instructor and student choices about when the learning ex
change occurs. So before examining specific methods of instructional
delivery, we direct our attention first to the temporal relationship be
tween teacher and student.
Synchronous or Asynchronous?
When Joe Student is sitting in the classroom at the same time that Pro
fessor Drudge is presenting his lecture, the mode of instructional deliv
ery is synchronous—the student “receives instruction” at the same time
that the teacher is “delivering instruction”—even if Joe Student is read
ing a copy of the new issue of Sports Illustrated while Professor Drudge
listlessly reads from yellowed notes as his sole teaching effort. (Learn
ing is no more the same as receiving instruction than teaching is the
same as delivering instruction.)
If later that evening, Jennifer Scholar listens to a tape recording of
Professor Drudge’s lecture (no doubt made by Joe Student), the instruc
tion has been received at a different time than it was delivered—the
mode of delivery is asynchronous. Clearly, Professor Drudge did not in
tend asynchronous delivery of his lecture, but a student attentively fol
lowing his lecture in the auditorium has no educational advantage over
Jennifer Scholar carefully listening to the tape in her dorm room. In
deed, Jennifer Scholar has the advantage of being able to go back and
listen again to portions of the lecture that she did not immediately
grasp on first hearing.
Some further elaboration on the preceding comments is important.
Although the terms synchronous and asynchronous describe how teacher
and learner are linked in time when instruction is delivered, a synchro
Delivery Methods 71
nous method should also allow two-way communication at the same

time. When Joe Student attends Professor Drudge’s lecture, student-
teacher interaction is possible, even if it does not occur. In this text, we
use the term synchronous delivery only for methods that incorporate si
multaneous two-way communication.
Before Gutenberg’s invention of movable type, printed materials
were expensive and scarce; most instruction, even in the early universi
ties, was based on oral transmission of knowledge, thus requiring
learner and teacher to meet in the same physical space. Even when
printed materials became more common, educational systems contin
ued to develop along the model of teacher and student working to
gether in the same room at the same time—synchronously—because
there was no other way for the teacher to be able to provide the student
immediate feedback, answer questions, or make rapid adjustments in
teaching methods to meet the needs of the learner.
Today, instantaneous communication between two persons any
where on earth is possible, widely available, and affordable. Do stu
dents and teachers still need to gather together at specified times and
places to engage in education? Clearly, the answer is no. Do students
and teachers still need to communicate? The evidence presented in
Chapter 3 on good practices in education demonstrates that teacher-
student and student-student interaction is essential for the maximum
educational benefit to accrue to the student.
Education in its broadest sense is more than the accumulation of
knowledge and technical skills. As social creatures, humans need to
gather and interact. In large measure, education at the lower grade lev
els is as much about learning to get along with other people, growing
into notions of acceptable public behavior, and developing a sense of
self within the group as it is about learning to read, write, and compute.
Even at the college and university level, cocurricular activities have
come to be understood as a necessary part of the experience of earning
a degree. Synchronous on-campus education, however, is no longer the
best way for all persons to further their intellectual development.
Changes in society, such as the rise of single-parent families, the shift
from a purely industrial-based economy to one emphasizing services
and information, the frequency with which people change careers, and
the desire for lifelong learning, have created a new class of learners for
whom seat time in the campus classroom is no longer the preferred or
best way to attain their educational objectives.
Technology now affords humanity the opportunity to meet societal

needs for more widespread education at potentially lower cost, for
more specific and narrow audiences, and under circumstances better
suited to the needs of diverse learners with varying life situations. The
challenge for educators is to find the proper combination of technolo
gies that best mimics the master-apprentice approach, which has his
torically worked so well. Meeting this challenge requires an under
standing of what technologies are compatible with synchronous or
asynchronous delivery of instruction, what the associated costs (in the
widest sense, not simply economic) and benefits of each are, and how
well the technology serves the educational purpose. The following sec
tions attempt to address these points, which are then summarized in ta
bles at the conclusion of the chapter.
Synchronous Delivery Methods
Two-way radio, telephone, interactive television, and Internet confer

encing are common examples of synchronous technologies for distance
education. For many years, children living on remote ranches in Aus
tralia have been schooled at home, guided by professional teachers
through two-way radio. Relatively simple equipment is needed; the
transmitter must be strong enough to cover only the distances separat
ing student and teacher. The times and frequencies for radio communi
cation need to be established in advance, unless the broadcast fre
quency is constantly monitored. Radio contact allows one teacher to
assist many more students more frequently than would be possible if
travel to each remote site were required.
Radio-based communication is essentially restricted to audio only.
If visual aids are being used, it is necessary for both parties to view the
materials simultaneously and talk through any descriptions required.
The number of students that a single instructor can assist by two-way
radio depends on how often contact occurs, the duration of each ses
sion, and the number of parties who can communicate at the same time
and frequency without confusion. Radio communication of this type is
not private—anyone tuned to the proper frequency can listen in—and
it is subject to disruption by atmospheric disturbances.
Delivery Methods 73
Telephone links have been used for many years to keep home- or hos
pital-bound children up to date with their schooling in urban areas. A
speaker phone is set up in the classroom and at the student’s location,
and the line is kept open during instructional periods. The homebound
student can hear the teacher’s comments to the class and follow along
with work being done out loud; the child can also participate in discus
sions and questioning. The teacher needs to make a conscious effort to
draw the isolated student into the classroom conversation. As with ra
dio communication, both parties need to be looking at identical copies
of visual aids and talk through any needed descriptions or explana
tions. A companion fax line can facilitate exchange of printed materials.
At the college and university level, the telephone has been used in
teaching languages both for private, instructor-to-student sessions and
for group instruction via conference calls. Private instruction is time-
consuming for the instructor if many students are enrolled but rela
tively inexpensive. In contrast, class meetings held by conference call
may be time efficient but require expensive telecommunications equip
ment and do not easily allow individual attention (Young, 2000a). Tele
phone service can also be used for asynchronous delivery of instruction
as discussed in the next section.
Although telephonic communication is a mature technology, there
are several drawbacks for its extended use in distance education. First,
telephone service must be available (by line, cell, radio, or satellite con
nection). If regular phone service is desired at each location in addition,
a line dedicated to the instructional link may be required. The number
of students who can be simultaneously served by telephone is limited
by the number of parties who can be connected to the instructor’s loca
tion, the time required to address the specific needs of each individual,
and the expense of the connections. (This also assumes that the stu
dents are all receiving the same content.) If the conversation is to be re
corded for later use—for example, by those students who could not
participate at the appointed time—written release and permission
must be secured from the speaking participants.
Interactive television (ITV) represents current state-of-the-art tech
nology for synchronous distance education. Both the instructor and
student locations are equipped with a video-audio uplink and moni
tors; often, each site also has a monitor to observe the local outgoing
broadcast. Signals for ITV are usually transmitted along a network of
fiber-optic cables maintained by a consortium of public and private
institutions within a specific geographic area. Ground to satellite to

ground linking is also possible. In addition to the remote students,
there may be a class audience at the instructor’s location, which helps
make the professor’s teaching appear more relaxed and natural than if
the professor were in the remote studio alone. The instructor must re
member to consciously involve the remote students in the local class,
however, and students in both locations need to act as if the others were
in the same classroom, for instance, by not talking during question
and-answer periods between the different sites.
Several features make ITV attractive for distance education. The
face-to-face exchange of both visual and auditory information pro
vided by ITV is potentially an intellectually more stimulating process
than audio-only delivery methods. Students in remote areas can have
live access to needed educational opportunities that otherwise might
entail frequent long trips, and institutions can expand the range of their
course offerings by sharing faculty. For example, several far-flung cam
puses belonging to the Minnesota State College and University system
in the northern part of the state offer organic chemistry lecture classes
taught via ITV by one instructor; laboratory sections are held locally. A
campus with low enrollment in the subject can afford students access to
the course without having to hire another faculty member or require
the instructor or students to travel. Similarly, Indiana University at
Bloomington has been using ITV as a component in its continuing ed
ucation program for in-service teachers in rural areas; participating
teachers can gather at several regional sites for videoconferencing
with faculty on-campus and at other remote sites (Rodes, Knapczyk,
Chapman, & Chung, 2000).
ITV technology is not inexpensive. At each location, a room must
be equipped with the appropriate lighting, cameras, and microphones;
technical support personnel are needed to set up and maintain the
equipment and provide training to the faculty; and there are annual
fees for maintaining and administering the system linking the various
network sites. To be cost-effective, the ITV facility should be used to the
fullest extent possible.
Internet conferencing refers to any method using text, graphics, au
dio, and/or video transmitted by an Internet connection that allows
two or more individuals to communicate in real time (i.e., synchro
nously). Although each of these techniques can be provided by a sepa
rate program, they are often parts of an integrated package. For exam
Delivery Methods 75
ple, Netscape Communicator Conference includes options for chat, a

whiteboard, and audio conferencing. Microsoft NetMeeting affords op
tions for chat, both audio and videoconferencing, a whiteboard, pro
gram sharing, and file transfers. To participate in an Internet confer
ence, one party must initiate the “call” to the others’ addresses, who
must already be online or connected to the Internet.
Chat is essentially instant e-mail. Messages are sent as text and
posted in a window on a Web page, and the sender is identified by
name (or pseudonym). As each person in the conference sends a com
ment, his or her name and message appears. Everyone in the confer
ence is a party to the e-mail postings. Some conferencing systems allow
one party to send a message sub rosa to another during a chat. The con
versation can be saved for later posting and reading (at which point
communication becomes asynchronous—perhaps a form of electronic
eavesdropping?).
Audio conferencing requires each participant to have a computer
equipped with microphone and speakers. To use audio conferencing,
the sound files being sent must be of the streaming type, that is, as soon
as the files arrive at the destination, the program begins to play them.
Earlier methods for transmission of audio and video files required that
the entire file be transferred to the recipient before play could start.
Videoconferencing requires a digital camera (color or black-and
white), usually perched on the top of the computer’s monitor. Video
appears in a small window in part of the screen. The video files are
compressed and streaming. Compressed sound or video files do not
transmit every bit of the original sound or video shot. Depending on
the compression algorithm used, sound or images are sampled at dis
crete intervals rather than continuously. This reduces the quantity of
data that must be transmitted. For video files, only those elements that
change from one scan to the next are sent out digitally, and the number
of frames per second is generally smaller than the 30 to 32 frames per
second required for the human eye to perceive the change as smooth,
continuous motion. Hence, the video transmission is kept to a small
block, and motion appears jerky. The audio and video also may not be
perfectly synchronized, which may prove distracting to some users be
cause facial expression and lip movement will not match the sound.
A whiteboard is a window in which graphic images are posted live
during a conference; sketches displayed in the conference whiteboard
area can be modified or “doodled on” by the participants, sometimes in
different colors to identify the person making the marks. As with the
chat transcripts, the whiteboard may be saved as a file for later viewing.
This tool is particularly useful for discussions in which abstract ideas
are made more clear by reference to a picture or graph, such as in math,
science, psychology, and economics courses.
To illustrate, six professors from six colleges belonging to the Asso
ciated Colleges of the South have offered an advanced Latin course
together. At a prearranged time, students and professors from the par
ticipating schools gather at their respective campuses to hear a live
online audio broadcast of a lecture by one of the faculty members.
Questions and comments are shared during the lecture time using text
chat. Outside the conference class, a continuing discussion is held on
line, and students and faculty from each participating campus gather
together for a traditional class meeting on their home campus (Young,
2000b).
Stanford Online is a program of the Stanford Center for Profes
sional Development dedicated to delivering graduate-level classes in
engineering and computer sciences to working professionals via the
Internet or corporate local networks. Students can receive live lectures
as streaming video (or view them later); professors or teaching assis
tants provide tutoring live through the Internet. The latter tutoring is
truly synchronous delivery (DiPaolo, 1999).
Of the conferencing components described, the chat and white
board functions are the least high-tech and are least dependent on hav
ing a high-speed Internet connection. When Internet conferencing is
appropriate in a distance education program, these two tools probably
can suffice for most needs.
Asynchronous Delivery Methods
The tools available for asynchronous delivery of instruction are more

numerous than those for synchronous delivery and range from low-
tech tried-and-true methods to the latest and most advanced technolo
gies. The presentation below roughly follows the order of increasing
technological complexity.
Printed materials exchanged by mail (or other delivery service) rep
resent one of the oldest and least expensive methods of delivering dis
Delivery Methods 77
tance education. These range from simple sheets of text to commer

cially published books with elaborate artwork. During the past several
decades, the expense of producing quality black-and-white documents
(and even those with color) has fallen even as the quality of the finished
product has increased. Instructors or institutions can produce highly
tailored documents for their courses: the text, programmed self-study
guides, visual aids, workbooks, and so on.
A drawback to using printed materials is the speed at which the
materials can be revised. Textbook publishers commonly operate on a
2- to 4-year revision cycle, so recent changes in a field may not be re
flected in the current edition of the text. In contrast, documents pro
duced in-house can be updated more frequently, particularly if the
source files are kept in word processor format. Thus, many instructors
supplement commercial texts with manuals, worksheets, and other
documents that they have authored and published in-house. Revi
sions by the publisher may entail reworking such instructor-authored
printed materials to maintain content compatibility and optimal learn
ing for students. Careful planning is needed to avoid accumulating
stockpiles of out-of-date publications.
Students can obtain course materials, submit assignments, and re
ceive feedback in written form through mail or delivery service.
Printed materials are reasonably accessible but bulky; postage and
shipping costs can be a significant expense. Also, the speed with which
materials can be conveyed through the postal service limits the rate at
which student and instructor can be in contact. Although overnight or
next-day delivery is now available in many locations, its expense pre
cludes use as a routine method of sending and receiving materials.
Audiotapes are especially useful for recording lectures, music, and
step-by-step instructions to lead a learner through a procedure rela
tively hands-free, for example, a training tape for a computer program
or instrument or for providing travel instructions.
Traditionally, audio recordings have been in analog format on mag
netic tape reels or cassettes. Cassette players are widely accessible, of
ten being included as part of inexpensive portable music players or
boom boxes. Equipment for making the original analog recordings is
available in various levels of technical sophistication, excellence, and
expense. For example, a lecture can be recorded directly during a
class period or out of class in a studio. A recording made during a class
period is certainly easy to make and permits student questions and
comments to be recorded as well. Stray ambient noise will also be re

corded, however; this may be a serious distraction to the remote lis
tener or simply be regarded as a sign of a poor-quality distance educa
tion program. The alternatives are to edit out the noise later or record
the lecture minus student comments under controlled conditions. If the
lecture or performance being recorded is to be used for more than one
course cycle, it is probably better to make a master recording under
studiolike conditions. Typical student questions or comments and in
structor responses can be included either as paper copy, a companion
list of frequently asked questions, or a narration by the instructor alone
at the end.
Copies for distribution to students are produced by a tape duplica
tor, which records from the original to multiple blank tapes at the same
time. If a large number of copies is needed, or tapes are rarely used in
the distance education program, contracting out the duplication to a
commercial recording studio may be more cost-effective and certainly
less stressful than purchasing a duplicator, blank tapes and cases, and
paying an operator. Allowances also need to be made for the expense
and time to prepare labels, affix them to the cassettes, and insert the cas
settes into protective cases.
Most boom boxes also contain built-in microphones, thus allowing
students to record examples of their pronunciation skills for language
classes, samples of musical performances, or speeches. Of course, in
these cases, all nonverbal nuances would be absent, and the quality of
the recording may be poor unless an external microphone is used.
As an alternative to cassettes, sound files can be recorded as well on
CD-ROM disks as described later. Portable CD players are relatively in
expensive and popular, and the disks store much larger amounts of
data than do the cassettes.
Digital recording technology is newer but becoming increasingly
important. The issue has recently received much notoriety because of
the successful civil suit brought by recording artists against the owners
of a Web site through which anyone could download digital copies
(MP3 format) of current music onto the hard drives of their computers
and thence to small portable players without paying royalty fees. The
situation is further complicated by the existence of competing stan
dards for delivery of digital sound. RealNetworks offers the RealAudio
format for streaming audio via the Internet (meaning the music plays
as it downloads, rather than being completely downloaded before play
Delivery Methods 79
can begin); Microsoft offers the Windows Media format; and a new,
royalty-free open source format called Vorbis has been recently intro
duced (Borland, 1999).
Instructors who anticipate using an audio production (either se
lected portions or in its entirety) protected by copyright law, such as
musical performances, spoken books, or broadcasts, should become
familiar with relevant copyright laws. Typically, permissions must be
obtained from the copyright holder, and royalty payments may be re
quired for repeated use of a copyright-protected work.
Telephone service may be used asynchronously in several ways.
Short lessons may be delivered by a recorded message; for example,
samples of correct foreign language pronunciation can be recorded for
students to dial up. With the appropriate telephone answering equip
ment, students can record spoken responses to questions after a
prompt (Young, 2000a).
Facsimile (fax) machines transmit text and graphics via telephone
lines, permitting students to send and receive assignments. For exam
ple, a student could receive an exam by fax at a prearranged time and
be required to return the completed test within a given period. Al
though fax machines are not yet everyday household appliances, they
are readily available at many public sites. If students submit assign
ments by fax, we suggest dedicating a separate phone line to the task.
In addition, staff should make sure that the fax machine is stocked with
sufficient paper before leaving the office for extended periods, such as
weekends. Students will not appreciate having to resubmit “missing”
work caused by lack of paper in the printer.
Videocassette recordings are particularly useful for distance learning.
It seems as if nearly everyone owns a television set equipped with a
videocassette recorder-player (VCR). For example, an on-campus class
is recorded for distance viewing. The tape might be sufficiently com
plete to be used for individual stand-alone instruction, it might be used
in conjunction with an instructor-prepared guide, or it might be viewed
at a remote site by a group with a local group leader or facilitator.
Just as educators can disseminate lessons by video recordings, stu
dents can submit videos to document their skill at public speaking, for
eign language pronunciation and conversation, conducting interviews,
musical performance, and so forth (Carr, 2000). In this sense, the video
camera and tape player become instruments for submitting assign
ments and making assessments of student performance. Video cameras
are not yet everyday household items, however. Instructors who antici
pate having students submit video recordings should include a notice
in the course syllabus or course materials provided at the beginning of
the term, make arrangements for students to borrow or rent the cam
eras, and provide a level of instruction in using the cameras appropri
ate to the level of quality expected in the final recording.
On the production side, easy-to-use, high-quality cameras for re
cording to tape have become remarkably cheaper in recent years. Al
though adequately serviceable tapes may be neither difficult nor ex
pensive to produce, broadcast-quality recordings require considerably
more talent, time, and money. Few students expect classroom videos to
be like Hollywood productions, but all students have the right to ex
pect that the quality of the recording does not interfere with or detract
from the intended learning objectives. We suggest that this is the stan
dard by which distance educators judge the videocassette recordings
they produce or use in their programs.
At the minimum, the camera should remain focused on the speaker
or visual aids. Charts, blackboard notes, and other visual aids should
be plainly visible; the video should have no “jitters”; and the speaker
should be plainly audible and extraneous noise minimized. These crite
ria can be met by having the camera mounted on a swiveling tripod to
follow a moving speaker; using an external microphone feed to the
camera rather than the built-in microphone; and running a test tape to
check the appropriateness of the room lighting, acoustics, and volume
settings before recording the class. This means that a camera technician
is needed also. Lecture classes are most compatible with the format just
described; questions or comments from students may not be com
pletely audible under these circumstances, however, so it is better if the
instructor repeats the remark for the tape before responding. The tape
will be of even better quality if the classroom used for the recording is
designed to deaden ambient and external noise, has adjustable light
ing, and allows amplification of questioners’ voices. Any announce
ments or instructions that are pertinent only to the audience present for
the original recording should be either edited out of the final tape or de
livered when the camera is off. Finally, if any students appear or are
heard on the videotape, their written permission may be needed before
distributing the recording.
Instructors should practice working in front of the camera to be
come less self-conscious about being taped. We suggest that the in
Delivery Methods 81
structor view a tape of his or her teaching to become aware of and cor
rect any mannerisms or habits that could prove distracting to students.
The highest-quality video recordings, such as those sold commer
cially for training tapes, are made in a studio using more than one cam
era, with the actors working from a script under the guidance of a direc
tor. The final tape is also usually edited.
Duplication decks for simultaneously making multiple copies of a
videocassette recording are essential if videotapes are to be a major de
livery component of a distance education program. Earlier comments
about choosing to duplicate audiotapes in-house or with an outside
contractor are equally applicable to videocassettes, as are the com
ments regarding labeling, mailing, and returning the tapes. In addition,
there are several formats for recording video, three of the most com
mon being NTSC (North America and Asia), PAL, and SEACAM
(Europe). If the distance education program will be exported using
videos, the format used in the intended service area should be deter
mined (FJM Multimedia, 1999).
Increasingly, digital video recorders are becoming common and
will supplant analog camcorders in the near future. Digital video cam
eras afford rapid, direct transfer of both still and moving pictures to
storage on a computer hard drive. Standard VHS and 8-mm tape re
corders require an analog-to-digital converter to effect the conversion,
which is slower. Once the digital video has been captured to the com
puter hard drive, the footage can be edited and special effects added
with computer software. The completed product is then ready to be
exported as a VHS videocassette or a digital videodisc (DVD) or sent
out through the Internet (see discussion later in this chapter). Because
much of this technology has been developed and marketed with home
consumers in mind, the cameras and software are designed to be user-
friendly and not too expensive for an educational institution. As recent
history has shown, the power and sophistication of digital video re
cording and hardware and software will continue to increase, even as
prices show a modest decrease through time.
The preceding remarks refer to video recordings created by the
educational institution. It is equally possible to incorporate com
mercial videos, either single programs or entire series, in distance
education courses. Whether these videos are copies of programs
broadcast on commercial or public television or productions obtained
from companies specializing in education, appropriate licensing
arrangements must be made before incorporating them into distance

programs.
Radio and television broadcasts have a long history of use in educa
tion and entertainment. Indeed, advertisers have long recognized radio
as the most cost-efficient way to reach the largest audience. Broadcast
technology is nearly 100 years old and does not require a large infra
structure such as is needed for telephone service; an electrical plant
need be available only at the broadcast station. The development of in
expensive portable transistor radios and the launching of telecommu
nications satellites made it possible for the government of India in the
1960s to promote family planning on a large scale. Public health educa
tion aimed at preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS has been dissemi
nated on a wide scale in Africa.
By its nature, education transmitted by radio is broad in scope but
is not well suited for providing individualized instruction or feedback
to the learner. Radio is best used when little additional follow-up is
needed or when it is used in conjunction with an on-site instructor,
such as in a village school.
Like radio, television is excellent for reaching large populations
without providing personalized instruction or feedback. The added
visual dimension makes it possible to demonstrate techniques at a dis
tance that can be grasped only by watching someone in the act as op
posed to just hearing about it on the radio. Stand-alone television and
radio programs are most likely to be useful distance education technol
ogies when the learning objectives are narrow in focus and have built-
in self-evaluation tools to assist the learner. Most definitely, educational
television can assist a local teacher by supplementing classroom in
struction because it has the potential for opening a window to a world
that would otherwise remain hidden from view. Television is a more
expensive technology than radio at both the broadcast and reception
locations.
Electronic files on magnetic or optical media can store large text, video,
and audio files in relatively low-weight packages, thus reducing the
cost of paper and shipping for the educational institution. A typical 3.5
inch formatted high-density computer floppy disk holds about 1.4
megabytes (MB) of data; for illustrative purposes, the word processor
file for this chapter (20 double-spaced pages of typescript) occupies 110
kilobytes (0.11 MB) of disk space. Hence, 10 copies of the original file
could be stored on one standard floppy. Disks recorded in IBM PC
Delivery Methods 83
compatible format are immediately readable by all standard personal

computers equipped with floppy disk drives; disks recorded in Apple
Macintosh format require “disk mounter” software to be read by IBM-
compatible computers.
Just as there are duplicators for tapes, mass copying of floppy disks
is now well developed. The decision to purchase disk-duplicating
equipment versus contracting out the job largely depends on the vol
ume of disks to be copied and the frequency of the need for duplication.
Blank disks are relatively inexpensive and should be considered dis
posable items, that is, no effort should be made to recover them for
distribution to another student or as a medium for storing newer files
because repeated reading from and writing to the disk will ultimately
lead to errors in the stored data. Floppy disks are not suitable for archi
val storage because the data can be easily destroyed by magnetic fields.
Large-capacity disks such as an Iomega Zip, Imation SuperDisk, or
compatible suppliers afford storage in the range of 100 to 250 MB on a
single disk. These disks are more expensive than the standard 1.4 MB
floppies and require proprietary disk readers that are not standard
equipment on most personal computers but are widely used and rela
tively inexpensive. (Several computer manufacturers now include an
internal Zip disk drive as standard equipment on some models or as an
option on others.)
A potential drawback to the use of these higher-capacity storage
disks is the lack of readily available equipment for mass duplication,
although in principle it should be possible to connect several of the
drives to one computer to facilitate the copying process.
Compact discs (CDs) hold up to 650 MB of data. In addition to text
and sound files, still pictures, animations, and movie and video clips
are readily accommodated. Indeed, the large size of most video and
audio files renders archiving them on 1.4 MB magnetic floppy disks im
practical. Furthermore, CDs are cheaper than floppy disks per MB of
storage space, have far longer useful lifetimes, and have low shipping
and mailing costs because of their light weight. CD readers have long
been standard equipment on all personal computers. Many newer
models incorporate DVD readers, but these can read CDs as well.
Software (e.g., Adaptec’s Toast) and drives for recording to CDs are
reasonably priced, and some computer models now have these drives
as standard equipment. Before writing to a CD (called “burning a
disk”), all files must be in the desired final format. Unless the more
expensive rewritable CDs are being used, errors can be corrected only
by burning a new CD. Although the blank CDs are inexpensive, it takes
about 20 minutes to copy the files to the CD. This becomes the original
or master for making duplicates; any errors or imperfections on it will
be reproduced faithfully on all copies.
Duplicating decks for making simultaneous multiple copies of CDs
are not inexpensive but are certainly within a price range affordable for
most educational institutions. Unless the program or institution rou
tinely plans to make multiple CD copies and can allocate support staff
to duplicating CDs, making and affixing labels, and inserting the fin
ished CDs into protective covers, however, it probably makes more
financial sense to contract these services to an outside vendor.
Increasingly, commercial textbooks are packaged with CD-ROMs
containing supplemental materials, animations, video clips, and other
extras. Instructors need to evaluate these materials to determine their
accuracy and appropriateness for their course and clearly explain in the
syllabus how these materials are to be used. It is particularly important
to check that the instructions for using the CDs are correct and under
standable for students. There is yet another reason for instructors to
carefully peruse CDs that come with course textbooks—they may con
tain materials that save the instructor time!
The Internet refers to the globally interconnected series of smaller
computer networks. The first demonstration of linking two computers
across a long distance was achieved in 1965. By 1969, the first network
(ARPANET) connecting four host computers in California and Utah
was set up (Leiner et al., 2000).
Computers are networked when they are linked so that informa
tion can be passed from one computer to another or to a common-use
printer, storage device, or other peripheral. For example, a small busi
ness occupying the 16th floor of a skyscraper may link its 10 desktop
computers together in a loop to share electronic mail, facilitate file ex
change, and access a shared printer. It is possible for one user on the
network to read or write to the files on a coworker’s computer. If the
network is local, or self-contained, computers outside the small busi
ness office are not connected and cannot access the information on the
company’s computers, and the company’s computers do not have ac
cess to electronic mail or information outside the office.
A local network usually contains a central host computer or server
to which the other computers are linked, much as the spokes of a bicy
Delivery Methods 85
cle wheel are connected to the axle hub. The server contains a library of
files that individual computers on the network can read, copy, or write
to. Large applications, or programs, may reside on the server and re
ceive instructions from and deliver results to a less powerful net
worked computer acting as a simple teletype terminal. In this type of
network, information to be shared between two computers on the net
work must be passed from one computer to the central computer,
which then routes the connection to the second networked computer.
An internet is created when gateways or routers are set up to con
nect different host computers. The connections may be by direct cable
links, radio, microwave, or satellite. Today, Internet service providers
(ISPs) are the routers of electronic traffic between the host computer at
the center of each smaller network. Every server acts as a send-and-re
ceive connection to an ISP. Just as each telephone account has a unique
number, each network server has a unique numerical address to direct
electronic traffic flow. Thus, the Internet is that combination of hard
ware and software necessary for the smooth exchange of electronic in
formation between networks; by itself, the Internet is only a utility,
much like phone service.
Originally, the Internet was limited to exchange of text and numeri
cal data. Indeed, electronic mail (e-mail) was one of the earliest and
most fruitful applications developed for use on the Internet, allowing
researchers to rapidly exchange information. Even today, e-mail proba
bly is the major use for the Internet. In the context of distance educa
tion, it represents the fastest and most inexpensive way for learner and
instructor to remain in contact.
Early application programs for the Internet were command
driven—that is, the operator had to learn specific code words that were
entered by keyboard to effect the desired transfer. The development of
Web browser programs such as NCSA Mosaic, Netscape Navigator,
and Microsoft Internet Explorer, which incorporated menu-driven
tools for reading text and viewing still images, making file transfers,
sending e-mail, and conducting searches for information, enhanced the
use and accessibility of the Internet. Specialized helper applications or
plug-ins for Web browsers now allow automatic downloading and ex
pansion of compressed files, execution of small programs or “applets”;
viewing of objects in three dimensions; and transmission of both live
and recorded video and audio, animations, and conferencing. The list
of new tools seems to expand almost monthly.
A computer with an Internet connection and Web browser has be

come a multimedia presentation tool. The browser itself reads a hyper
text markup language file (a text file ending in extensions such as .html
or .htm) to obtain instructions for both the content and format of the
page seen by the viewer. The HTML file may include references to other
text, graphics, video, and sound files that are assembled into the final
observed product page. Initially, the HTML files read by a browser had
to be composed using a text or word processor by an operator knowl
edgeable in the syntax of the markup language. More recently, Web
page composition programs incorporating graphical “point and click”
interfaces have become commercially available, so that little or no for
mal knowledge of HTML programming code is required of the user.
Both Web browsers themselves and recent versions of word processors
include basic HTML composers. Although composition programs can
speed the work of preparing Web pages, someone familiar with the cur
rent HTML standards is best suited to optimize them for final use and
perform troubleshooting.
Web-based delivery of distance education has several advantages.
For example, electronic files are more easily revised than paper doc
uments and with essentially no waste; text, sound, and motion are
readily combined to enhance the aesthetics of the learning experi
ence; students have essentially on-demand access to course materials;
widely dispersed resources can be accessed without travel; and the
printing cost of documents is shifted from the institution to the student
or the remote computer site. Web-based instruction, however, requires
institutional expenditures for purchase and maintenance of servers,
software and Web page development, user training, and fees for con
nection to ISPs. For learners, Web-based instruction (or other Internet-
intensive methods) also requires ready access to computers, electricity,
and a telephone system.
Not surprisingly, the expansion of distance education has both pro
moted and been assisted by the growth of businesses that develop soft
ware for delivery and management of Web-based courses. Products
such as WebCT, Blackboard, Convene.com, and Academic.com provide
templates that faculty or secretarial staff can use to publish their own
course materials; the skill required to use these products is on the order
of what is required to use a standard word processor. The products usu
ally integrate other features such as chat, bulletin boards, whiteboards,
online quizzing, and so forth. The company may host the courseware
on its own servers. Other commercial products provide course content
Delivery Methods 87
that can be customized by the faculty member; Archipelago is one rep

resentative of this class of product. We will have further comments on
this subject in Chapter 6.
Listservers, bulletin boards or discussion groups, chat rooms,
whiteboards, and conferencing software are more recent communi
cation applications transmitted via the Internet. Chat rooms, white-
boards, and conferencing were described earlier under synchronous
methods of delivery.
Listservers, or listservs, are mass e-mail programs designed to serve
an audience with a specific common interest. For example, an active
listserv for those interested in distance education, the Distance Educa
tion Online Symposium (DEOS), is hosted at Pennsylvania State Uni
versity.1 An individual joins the mail group of interest by sending a
“subscribe to list” command to the host server, which in turn adds the
subscriber’s e-mail address to the list of recipients. When any member
sends a message to the listserv, it is an open communication automati
cally forwarded to all members of the group. The subject of the message
and a date and time stamp are usually included with the mail. In turn,
recipients have the choice of replying to the sending author only or to
all the members of the list, saving the message, or deleting it. De
pending on the activity and size of the group, members can receive a
few to hundreds of e-mails a day. Although communication is asyn
chronous, a lively discussion can nonetheless take place amid rapid-
fire exchange of messages and replies before the group exhausts the
topic. Usually, several topics are discussed at the same time—this is
why the subject header in the e-mail becomes important. The header
provides a connection or “thread” that a member of the list can follow
while selecting messages to read to maintain a sense of continuity.
Some groups offer members the option of receiving all the messages
bundled together in one large mailing or digest. Listservs may afford
subscribers the option to temporarily suspend receipt of messages;
other group mail lists maintain an archive of past postings, often
searchable according to the topic.
Bulletin boards or discussion groups have a purpose similar to list
servs but differ in how the information is disseminated publicly. List
servs are like mass postal mailings—messages are sent indiscrimi
nately to every mailbox on the route; the recipient is obliged to receive
the mail but may discard it. An electronic bulletin board is like the
physical posting boards found in grocery stores and student unions:
Messages are tacked in open view for any passerby who cares to stop
and peruse them. Thus, an electronic bulletin board is a site that must
be accessed through the Internet. A message sent to the site is pub
lished there, showing the subject, date and time of posting, and the au
thor’s name or pseudonym. Access to the bulletin board can be limited
by passwords issued to authorized users. Depending on the sophistica
tion of the software, archiving, sorting, and searching of postings may
be possible.
Conclusion
We have briefly described the wide array of methods commonly used

to disseminate course content and maintain interaction between the in
structor and student in distance education. There is no one ideal tech
nology for delivering course content or maintaining contact, nor can a
single method fulfill all the educational needs of a distance education
program. Hence, this chapter has been directed toward providing read
ers with at least a superficial familiarity with the various types of tech
nology available as a prelude to choosing the particular methods em
ployed to implement a distance program. Tables 5.1, 5.2, and 5.3
summarize our presentation. The next chapter examines the principles
that guide the selection of the delivery methods for distance education
courses.
Visit our companion Web site to find
• Links to vendors of the commercial products mentioned in this chapter

• More background information on methods for delivering course con
tent in distance education programs
• Links to sites demonstrating or using Internet technologies in distance

education
• Tips on designing user-friendly cross-platform Web pages for distance

education courses
Delivery Methods 89
TABLE 5.1 Summary of Synchronous Delivery Methods for Distance

Education
Method Strengths Weaknesses
Interactive television Mimics sense of Expensive hardware

(ITV) traditional class
environment
Telephone: • Established • One-on-one nature

Conversation technology limits number of
• Personalized contacts per instructor
attention possible • Conference calls limit
personalized attention
Internet conferencing: • May avoid long- Sound may be of poorer

Audio distance toll charges quality than telephone
• Multiple tools can be
used concurrently
Internet conferencing: • Less expensive than • Video files are large

Video and audio ITV • Current bandwidth
• Multiple tools can be inadequate
used concurrently • Motion is not smooth
• Sound and motion not
synchronized well
Internet conferencing: • Rapid communica Few

Chat tion
• May involve many
participants
• Session can be
archived
Internet conferencing: • Rapid sharing of Few

Whiteboard graphical informa
tion
• Session can be
archived
TABLE 5.2 Summary of Asynchronous Delivery Methods for

Distance Education
Print (paper) • Low cost • Bulky materials

• Students do not need to • Slow transfer rate
learn how to use a new
technology
• Students can submit
work in same format
Audiocassette • Established technology • Sound needs to be supple

• Inexpensive, reusable mented with written or
medium visual materials
• Students can submit
work in same format
Telephone: • Established technology • Limited scope

Answering • Automated • Interactive systems
machine • Round-the-clock access expensive
possible
Telephone: • Established technology • Time-consuming for many

Facsimile (fax) • Rapid, automated transfer contacts
machine of documents possible • Paper supply must be
• Can be used by students monitored
to submit work
Videocassette • Pervasive technology • More expensive to pro

• Students can submit duce than audiocassettes
work in same medium • Students may have limited
access to recording
cameras
Delivery Methods 91
TABLE 5.2 (Continued)
Radio broadcast • Low technological • Same medium cannot be

demand on user side used by student to submit
• Inexpensive and work
pervasive technology • Individualized instruction
for reception is not possible
• Mass coverage possible
Television • Visuals and sound re • Expensive technology on

broadcast inforce each other broadcast side
• Mass coverage, yet each • No individualized
student has “close-up” instruction
view • Same medium cannot be
used by student to submit
work
Electronic files: • Low cost, easy to revise • Fragility, short lifetime of

Magneto-optical • Little space required for magnetic media
storage storage
• Students can use same
medium for submission
of work
Electronic mail: • Widely available • Not all e-mail programs

E-mail • Already familiar tech allow attachment of
nology to many students document files
• Rapid exchange of mes • Can be time-consuming for
sages possible instructor to read and re
• Students can receive spond to messages
and submit assignments
NOTE: Table 5.3 summarizes Web-based asynchronous methods.

TABLE 5.3 Summary of Web-Based Asynchronous Delivery

Methods for Distance Education
Web pages • Can combine text, • Time and skill needed to

graphics, and audio compose Web documents
visual files • Web pages may not appear
• Rapidly and easily the same on all computers
updated or in all Web browsers
File transfer • Most Web browsers • Unless files are in portable

automate file transfer document format (.pdf),
• Compressed files are students need the same
transferred quickly software used to compose
• Faster than mailing document or a translator
paper documents
Audio • A separate playback • Quality of the sound

device is not needed variable
• Sound files can be
integrated with text
and picture files
Video • Videocassette player • Large file size

and television not • Quality poorer than video
needed cassette
• Video files can be inte
grated with sound, text,
and picture files.
Delivery Methods 93
TABLE 5.3 (Continued)
Animation/ • Files often smaller and • Large time investment to

movies better quality than video make animations or
movies
• Files may be large
Bulletin boards • Discussions can be • Few

accomplished flexibly, • Password protection for
does not require all access may be required to
participants to be on preclude vandals from
line at same time making postings
• Discussion can be • Proper “netiquette” must
reviewed at later date be enforced by instructor
by instructor or students
Comprehensive • Many desired functions • All features in package

commercial provided in one program may not be needed for the
packages • Template-based design program
(e.g., WebCT, requires no program • Some desired features
Blackboard) ming skills may not be provided by
• Technical support avail the package
able to students and
faculty
• Lower investment in
computer hardware if
vendor hosts course
materials
Note
1. Distance Education Online Symposium (DEOS) listserv: Send

an e-mail to listserv@lists.psu.edu; in the reference line, type “sub
scribe DEOS-L”; in the e-mail message area, simply type “subscribe
DEOS-your name.” You may also subscribe separately to the electronic
newsletter on distance education, DEOS-News. Send your e-mail to the
same address as the listserv but with the message “subscribe DEOS
NEWS your name.” Be sure to send the message from the e-mail ac
count at which you wish to receive postings and newsletters from the
server.
References
Borland, J. (1999). Programmers prepare free, new MP3 format [Online]. Retrieved
June 16, 2000, from the World Wide Web: www.canada.cnet.com/news/0
1005-200-2091466.html
Carr, S. (2000, March 24). Even public speaking can be taught online. Chronicle
of Higher Education, 46, A46. Retrieved April 9, 2001, from the World Wide
Web: www. chronicle.com/chronicle/archive.htm
DiPaolo, A. (1999, December). Stanford learning: Worldwide availability on-
demand at Stanford online. Technological Horizons in Education Journal,
27(5), 16-18.
FJM Multimedia Inc. (1999). World television standards [Online]. Retrieved April 8,
2001, from the World Wide Web: www.fjm-media.com/worldtv.htm
Leiner, B. M., Cerf, V. G., Clark, D. D., Kahn, R. E., Kleinrock, L., Lynch, D. C.,
Postel, J., Roberts, L. G., & Wolff, S. (2000). A brief history of the Internet.
[Online]. Reston, VA: Internet Society. Retrieved April 8, 2001, from the
World Wide Web: www.isoc.org/internet-history/brief.html
Rodes, P., Knapczyk, D., Chapman, C., & Chung, H. (2000, December).
Involving teachers in Web-based professional development. Technological
Horizons in Education Journal, 27(10), 94-102.
Young, J. R. (2000a, May 12). The lowly telephone is central to some distance-
education courses [Online]. Chronicle of Higher Education, 46, A46.
Retrieved April 9, 2001, from the World Wide Web: www.chronicle.com/
chronicle/archive.htm
Young, J. R. (2000b, July 7). Moving the seminar table to the computer screen
[Online]. Chronicle of Higher Education, 46, A33. Retrieved April 9, 2001,
from the World Wide Web: www.chronicle.com/chronicle/archive.htm
6
Selecting Delivery Methods
L et us now imagine that the educational institution has

made the strategic decision to offer a program wholly or partly by dis
tance learning. Once the specific courses to be offered by distance deliv
ery have been identified, how should the delivery methods be selected?
We have deliberately chosen the plural form methods in asking this ques
tion: It is unlikely that a single technology or delivery method can fulfill
all the educational objectives successfully, and it certainly would be a
mistake to assume so from the outset of program or course planning.
Given the large variety of methods from which to choose, the momen
tary popularity of one method over another, the competition between
educational and economic objectives, and the usual urgency to “get on
with the job” under time constraints, there is a great temptation to
choose delivery methods hastily and for the wrong reasons. The conse
quences of making poor choices of delivery methods may include an
educationally inferior experience for students and faculty alike, lost rev
enue for the institution, and expensive tweaking during the program’s
course—or even worse, a need to completely overhaul the program.
95
In this chapter, we propose several principles that should guide the

choice of distance education delivery methods—principles derived
from good practices for distance education (Chapter 3), our experience,
and observation. After elaborating on these guiding points, we offer a
decision tree or rubric constructed on these principles that readers can
use to arrive at a choice of delivery methods for their particular
programs.
Fundamental Principles to Observe in

Selecting Delivery Methods
On the basis of observation and experience, we have arrived at several

basic principles we adhere to in choosing delivery methods for distance
learning.
A. First, identify the teaching or learning objectives to be

achieved, and then choose the technology tools that make the
goals achievable.
This is the first and most important principle. Violate it at your own
peril!
At the program level, the sponsoring institution must have estab
lished a clear set of outcomes in knowledge, practice, and attitude for
its graduates before launching program delivery at a distance. If the
program is an existing one offered in traditional on-campus format,
these outcomes should already exist, although perhaps they have not
been formally identified previously. Programs that undergo periodic
review for accreditation undoubtedly will have confronted this issue
already (Chapter 11). Once these program outcomes have been identi
fied, the next step is to determine what specific outcomes are to be ful
filled by particular course offerings. For example, attainment of core
knowledge in the discipline often can be distributed among courses
that address specific subdisciplines. Some topics may be treated exclu
sively within a single course, whereas others are covered from different
perspectives in multiple courses. The result of any such analysis should
be a detailed list identifying what objectives a course in the program is
intended to accomplish and how these mesh with the other courses in
the program. The process we have just described is an essential prelude

to choosing delivery methods but should not seem to be an unusual or
excessive exercise: It is standard good educational practice and works
hand in hand with assessment of learning outcomes (Chapter 9) and
program evaluation (Chapter 10).
Having identified the objectives for a course, the instructional team
has completed about one half the work needed to choose delivery
methods wisely. From this point, the task becomes one of matching the
educational objectives to compatible delivery methods that are practi
cal within the context of the institution’s financial concerns.
Imagine a course that has as one objective teaching students the art
of weaving willow baskets. Knowing this, certain delivery methods
can be rejected outright as poor choices. Thus, any technique using
only sound, such as audiocassette, radio broadcast, or telephone call,
would be inappropriate. Without visual aids, the task of learning to
weave is far more inefficient and frustrating than it should be. Even if
the coaching is delivered synchronously (Chapter 5), both teacher and
student are hampered by lack of visual clues. In a similar vein, a course
attempting to teach conversational French is doomed if it lacks a com
ponent supporting sound. Text with pronunciation marks and pictures
of how the mouth should be shaped to say “Comment allez vous?” are in
no way a substitute for hearing the phrase properly enunciated.
Our second principle is a corollary to the first.
B. Subordinate technology to the educational objectives.
Another way to phrase this principle might be this: Do not choose a

technology tool simply because it is “cool” or has a high “gee-whiz”
factor.
Imagine an introduction to accounting course delivered via the
Internet. Words or graphics can be designed as links associated with
sound files, animations, and video clips. All these enhancements may
be valuable on commercial sites or those providing entertainment, but
on pages dedicated to teaching accounting, they become distractions
unless used judiciously. For example, an interactive lesson leading stu
dents through the steps needed to prepare a monthly financial state
ment for a small business may be significantly enhanced with some
carefully chosen animated pointers or fades between views of a ledger.
A sweeping orchestral score or an animation of a rabbit in an accoun
tant’s visor running around with a red pen may show the page com
poser’s skill as a programmer but not as an educator.
Different technologies may support the same educational objec
tive. For example, in teaching a foreign language, auditory clues obvi
ously are important to assist the learner in speaking another tongue un
derstandably. The student could hear the lesson by means of ITV, an
audiocassette, an audio file on a CD, a phone call to a recorded mes
sage, or downloading a sound file from the Internet, and so on. Each of
these methods accomplishes delivery of the pronunciation lesson, but
only ITV allows synchronous interaction between student and teacher.
The other methods alone do not afford the student the means to pro
vide a sample of his or her pronunciation for evaluation and correction.
If evaluation of the student’s language skills are handled by another
technology, then the combined asynchronous methods are certainly
cheaper delivery and evaluation modes than is ITV. Still, the student
will not receive immediate feedback unless ITV is the technology of
choice. Thus, the program managers and instructors must decide
whether the educational value of immediate feedback provided by ITV
is necessary and affordable in the context of their institution’s goals and
financial circumstances.
C. Choose technologies that are appropriate to the educational,

geographic, social, and economic status of learners.
Another way of phrasing this principle might be this: Avoid the

one-size-fits-all mentality of delivery. Entirely different modes of deliv
ery may be needed to achieve the same outcomes in the same course de
livered to different populations.
Imagine a distance history course about the role of the United
States in the Second World War. The course is to be offered to several
target groups: urban adults aged 25 to 35 years who work during the
day; retired older citizens living in their own homes; and Native Amer
icans aged 25 to 35 years living on a remote reservation noted for its
general level of poverty. The content of the course has already been se
lected to speak to issues of interest to all three segments of the student
population. The three groups differ in their access to technology for de
livery of the course and in their comfort level with the delivery
technology.
Prior to developing the course, the institution carried out a market

ing and needs assessment of the target student groups and found the
following: The urban young adults prefer to take a course delivered
through the Internet because that allows them the flexibility of study
ing at odd hours. The group of older retired students includes some
avid computer user-owners, but most learners in this group have little
knowledge of or access to personal computers with Internet connec
tions. Members of the largest subgroup prefer to watch videotaped pre
sentations at their own time and pace. On this particular reservation,
many homes lack electricity and hence have no television or comput
ers. The reservation community center is equipped with large-screen
televisions with cassette players for group viewing and receives most
programming by satellite dish.
Armed with the preceding information, the school decided to
package the course in video format supplemented by printed course
workbooks for the older adult and Native American students and as a
Web-based course for the urban students. The printed course materials
were the same for all students, although in electronic form for the Web-
based delivery. Instead of the “talking heads” and moving pictures of
the video, the Web format included the text of the video narrative, illus
trative still photos taken from the video, and a few audio clips. The ur
ban students were also given the option of using the video format of the
course.
In this scenario, more effort was required to develop two delivery
modes, but in doing so, the sponsoring institution benefits from having
a larger pool of students to whom the course could be marketed.
The next principle is similar to the previous one.
D. Use a delivery mode as transparently as possible.
Students should be able to focus their time and energy on the

course’s educational content, not on receiving it. This is called transpar
ent delivery. Little good is accomplished in selecting a delivery method
compatible with course objectives and the socioeconomic characteris
tics of the learners if avoidable technical difficulties distract students
from their studies or cause frustration. Students need training and sup
port in using the delivery technology for the course. Content delivery
should use the least obtrusive technology. As many procedures as prac
tical should be automated. When students must execute certain specific
operations, they should be provided step-by-step reminders at the ap

propriate points.
Here are some examples of making course delivery transparent:
1. All custom-printed workbooks and study guides should be paginated,

should include tables of contents, and should be cross-referenced in
correct chronological sequence in the syllabus, just as a commercially
available textbook is referenced (see Chapter 4).
2. When ITV is the delivery method, make sure that the camera remains
focused on the speaker or materials on the blackboard. Do not obstruct
students’ line of sight. Ensure that all microphones are operating prop
erly before class begins. Have a technician standing by at each ITV node
during the class period so that problems can be fixed immediately. Fac
ulty should practice (yes!) their television presentation skills in an
attempt to eliminate personal habits or mannerisms on-screen that are
distracting to students. ITV faculty also need to avoid unnecessary
movements that cannot be smoothly tracked by the camera.
3. Clearly label audio- or videocassettes, CDs, floppy disks, and so on to

indicate what they contain and in what order they are used in the
course. Also, provide a schedule (ideally in the syllabus) showing the
chronological order in which the materials are used in the course.
4. Construct Web pages so that navigation is clear. Users should be able to

know where they are within the site and how to go from one point to
another. This can be accomplished best by displaying a menu on every
page or at the least by including a site map. Minimize jumps from
within the body of a document to external sites or other pages within
the site. Use “Web safe” colors chosen from a standard palette that will
be rendered the same way by different browsers, computer operating
systems, and monitors. Test all pages on several computer platforms
before loading them on the server. Keep picture files as small as possi
ble; a good strategy is to use thumbnail pictures that download rapidly
with the page. Use these small snapshots as links to enlarged versions
that students may elect to download. Large downloadable files should
be stored in portable document format (.pdf) and compressed for trans
fer. If the site makes use of any plug-ins or helper applications that are
not standard components of the Web browser, provide links to the
source of these programs.
Students taking distance learning courses are often busy people.

As consumers, they will appreciate having class materials presented in
a fashion that allows them to spend the maximum time studying, learn
ing, and completing course assignments. The likelihood of students
successfully attaining course learning outcomes will be increased by
transparent delivery, which allows them to stay focused on the course
content.
E. Devise alternate delivery methods for students having special

needs.
The term special needs connotes two things in the present context.
The first concerns those students lacking access to some element of
technology used for course delivery. Consider students living in rural
areas who must use a long-distance dial-up to connect with an Internet
service provider (ISP). If the course or program in which they wish to
enroll is largely Web based in its delivery, the extra toll charges may dis
suade them from pursuing their studies. This problem can be remedied
fairly easily, however, if most of the course content is hosted by the uni
versity’s own server: The needed files can be copied to a CD-ROM disk
and mailed to the student. At home, the Web browser can be used in off
line mode, that is, not connected to the ISP, to read the files directly
from the CD. For quicker access, the files can be transferred to the stu
dent’s computer hard disk drive. One reminder: If copyright permis
sions have been secured for any course materials, make sure that the
permission covers the transfer of data to the CD.
The second sense of special needs refers to students requiring accom
modations because of a health-related or physical condition. As we
note in Chapter 7, the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 requires
that reasonable accommodations be afforded to students having docu
mented physical limitations. By and large, each student’s situation
must be addressed on a case-by-case basis, but a certain amount of cre
ative thought will provide some possible solutions. For example, a stu
dent having impaired vision may well be able to pursue studies
through Web-based instruction more readily than in traditional text
book format simply because the font type and size of text, as well as the
resolution of computer monitors, can be changed easily at the student’s
end. The distance education program may need to help the student
make the adjustments in the formatting menus in software or control
panels in the computer hardware. Indeed, distance course methods
may appropriately accommodate some students who have difficulty
succeeding in the traditional classroom. A student suffering compre

hension difficulties that make note taking difficult in a typical campus
lecture may find a Web-based or video-based course more satisfactory
and less frustrating because it is compatible with working at a slower
pace as well as affording instant replay of any difficult moments in the
class presentation.
Principles A through E that we have just discussed emphasize as
pects of choosing delivery methods that most immediately affect stu
dents. We now mention three principles that more directly affect the in
structor and institution.
F. Choose technologies that are established, reliable, adaptable to

a range of disciplines, and well supported.
Many persons have had the experience of rushing out to buy the
“latest and greatest” thing only to find that the shiny new model car,
computer, or software has a few kinks in it that the manufacturer had
not completely dealt with before bringing the product to market. Why
should the technology and tools for distance education be any differ
ent? It is especially important for an institution making its initial foray
into distance education to allocate resources wisely because start-up
costs of some technologies (such as ITV) are quite high.
Employing a consistent delivery method for as many courses
within a program as is appropriate makes sense on several levels. Both
students and faculty will become more adept at using the technology,
requiring less training during the program, and the delivery should be
come more transparent with repeated use. In addition, as more courses
use the same delivery method, some economies of scale may result, re
ducing the delivery cost per student.
Technical support for students in distance education courses is es
sential, although the college or university offering the distance pro
gram need not be solely responsible for all such support. Thus, fixes for
problems such as replacement of defective copies of tapes and disks or
lost passwords for logging on to the campus computer network should
be handled readily enough by the home institution’s support services.
When commercial products are being used in the distance program,
support can be approached in several ways. Most software programs
have built-in help functions that are quite good; Web browsers such as
Netscape and Internet Explorer are two prominent examples. A good
strategy in providing support is to first make students in the course or

program aware of the resources immediately available to them. Many
problems can be resolved at that level, and if some seem to arise more
frequently than others, a list of common problems and how to fix them
can be prepared for students to access. For difficulties still not resolved
by the student with the assistance already provided, the institution
needs to decide whether to provide the help or redirect the student to
the supplier. In selecting any software or hardware for delivery, we
suggest a careful evaluation of the quality of the instructions that come
with the product and the assistance that is later available from the man
ufacturer. Before the course begins, the institution should decide what
types and level of support to provide and set up the mechanism for
supplying the support. Students will become frustrated if the delivery
method impedes the learning experience; that frustration is greatly re
lieved by making appropriate technical support available. If it is not,
student dissatisfaction may translate into poor retention.
G. Make plans for an alternate delivery scheme that can be

deployed rapidly if the primary delivery system fails
(“crashes”).
Educational institutions are not exempt from Murphy’s Law. Try to

imagine realistic scenarios for interruption of course delivery, and
make plans for providing alternate service to students. For example, if
the program uses Web-based methods, consider dealing with a server
crash. A possible solution: Have a mirror site (an alternate server, either
on campus or an outside vendor) to which traffic can be redirected. It is
common practice to keep backup tapes of files on hand for rapidly re
loading servers should that be needed. If ITV service may be inter
rupted for a substantial period, consider making agreements in ad
vance for alternate carriers, or if that is not feasible, have prerecorded
videotaped sessions. If the synchronous aspect of the class is the more
important element, consider conducting class by speaker phone for
two-way communication, with visual aids being sent by fax to the re
mote site for use during the phone conversation. Clearly, every contin
gency cannot be foreseen or corrected. It may be preferable to have as
signments held in reserve for students to pursue on their own in such
cases.
H. Choose delivery methods that maximize the time that
instructors can spend assisting students.
A common but mistaken notion is that distance education courses

require less faculty attention than traditional on-campus courses, and
certainly it is possible to design the course with this objective in mind.
The situation is not much different in some respects from offering a lec
ture class with an enrollment of 500 students. It is also equally true that
some subjects are not amenable to being taught this way and require
more frequent interaction between teacher and learner. As we de
scribed in “Good Practices in Distance Education” (Chapter 3), student
attainment of learning objectives is generally enhanced by frequent
contact with and feedback from instructors.
Accomplishing the goal of frequent teacher-student interaction in
distance learning means that the faculty member should not be primar
ily responsible for maintaining the technology of delivery. This implies
the existence of support personnel. The level of technical support avail
able to the teaching faculty has a direct bearing on the time that can be
dedicated to student-teacher interaction. For example, programs mak
ing use of audio- or videotapes require support staff to control cameras
and audio and lighting levels, duplicate and label tapes, and manage
the flow of the tapes to and from students. It is a poor use of resources to
have a faculty member running or supervising the duplication of tapes.
If the program plans to use audio- or videocassettes and a full-time
support staff is not financially possible, the institution needs to exam
ine what work can be done by unskilled part-time labor and what ser
vices must be contracted with an outside vendor.
As another example, consider Web-based courses. The faculty
member’s primary responsibility should be determining course con
tent, assisting students, and evaluating their progress. Converting
course content to Web format may be assigned to the faculty member as
well, although not all faculty possess the skill to do so. If the size of the
institution’s technology support staff is too small or cannot grow to
serve all the faculty involved in Web-based courses, it probably makes
sense for the institution to contract the services of an external vendor
supplying Internet course delivery packages. Products such as WebCT,
Convene.com, and Academic.com provide templates that faculty or
secretarial staff can use to enter their own materials. The skill required
to use these products is similar to that needed to use a standard word
processor. Other commercial offerings provide course content that can

be customized by the instructors; Archipelago is a company known for
this type of service.
Finally, the choice of delivery method, the number and type of fac
ulty-student interactions per term, and the length of each interaction
must be carefully considered in setting enrollment limits for the course.
Thus, a course in which students log on to a discussion board to con
verse with the professor is consistent with a higher enrollment than a
course in which one-on-one interaction is required.
A Decision Tree Approach

to Selecting a Delivery Method
The choice of the delivery method to be used for a distance education

course or program is not simply an educational one but also a financial
one dependent on the resources the institution can commit to such a
program and its expectations for generating revenue from the program.
These policy issues cannot be addressed here.
In this section, we provide a step-by-step guide for selecting deliv
ery methods based on the technical capabilities of each method. Before
this decision tree is used, the program should have already identified
the educational objectives for a particular course.
Like any decision tree, ours asks a question at each step and uses
the response to direct the user to the next question, and so on, each step
narrowing the range of possibilities. We have arranged the process in
two formats, one text-based, and the other graphical (see figures at the
end of the chapter). Please refer to Chapter 5 for descriptions of the
technologies mentioned below.
OPENING QUESTION
Question 1: Do your educational objectives require live or real-time
instruction?
Yes: Synchronous delivery methods are needed. Go to Section 1,
“Synchronous Delivery.”
No: Asynchronous delivery may be employed. Go to Section 2,
“Asynchronous Delivery.”
SECTION 1: SYNCHRONOUS DELIVERY

Question 1.1: Do you need visual and voice interaction between instruc
tors and students, as in a seminar or language class in an on-campus
classroom?
Yes: Consider using interactive television (ITV).
No: Go to the next question.
Question 1.2: Is it more important that students see and hear course con
tent live than interact with the instructor? This is much like having a
lecture-only class.
Yes: ITV can be used if students all gather in the same location. If
students do not gather, consider a live streaming video/audio
broadcast via the Internet (“Netcasts”) or educational televi
sion broadcast.
No: Go to the next question.
Question 1.3: Is live audio delivery alone adequate for your purposes?
Yes:
1. Consider a telephone conference link-up to a remote site if
significant numbers of students are involved and if two-way
communication is needed, or consider a conference call to
several telephone numbers if few students are involved.
2. Consider a live streaming audio broadcast via the Internet if
students are not gathering in common.
3. Consider a live radio broadcast if students do not have access
to Internet connections.
Question 1.4: Are text-based methods (with or without graphics) ade
quate for your purposes?
Yes:
1. If no graphics need to be consulted during the class period,
consider setting up an Internet chat room that students must
log on to at a specific day and time.
2. If graphics are needed in addition to text chat, try using a
Web-based conferencing application such as Netscape’s Con
ference.
SECTION 2: ASYNCHRONOUS DELIVERY

Question 2.1: Will any computer-based technology be used to deliver
course content?
Yes: Go to Question 2.3.
No: Go to Question 2.2.
Question 2.2: Will you make video or audio presentations?
Yes:
1. Consider videocassette recordings for video-with-audio or

video only, digital videodiscs (DVD), or movie reels (nearly
obsolete).
2. Audio-only content can be delivered on audiocassette tapes,
CD-ROM disks, magnetic tape reels (nearly obsolete), or
phonograph records (nearly obsolete).
No: The remaining asynchronous methods are print based.
Commercial textbooks, or those materials published in-house
such as manuals, readers, study guides, pamphlets, charts, dia
grams, and so on: All printed materials described must be
delivered to students by postal or package delivery services.
Facsimile transfer via phone lines is feasible only for short
printed items sent to a limited number of students.
Question 2.3: Do the computer-based methods include Internet- or Web-
based delivery? Note: Electronic mail (e-mail) only is not included
here.
Yes: Go to Question 2.5.
No: Go to Question 2.4.
Question 2.4: Are you planning to use e-mail to deliver course content?
Yes: E-mail has some drawbacks for delivery of course content. For
matted files are normally transferred as an attachment to the e-
mail message. Some e-mail programs or service providers
(AOL comes to mind), however, either are not compatible with
attachments or do not reliably transfer the files intact. E-mail is
best used for communicating messages. If reliable file transfer
is desired, specify what programs and/or service providers
students should use.
No: If the Internet is not being used for computer-based course con
tent delivery, this implies that students will be receiving files
by mail for the course for use on their local computer. The files
or programs can be stored on floppy disks, high-capacity stor
age disks (such as Zip or Jaz), or optical disks (CD-ROM).
Make sure file types are compatible with each student’s com
puter system and software.
Question 2.5: Do you plan to use the Internet only as a means for students
to transfer or download files for use on their local computer?
Yes: All you need is a file transfer protocol (FTP) site, and students
need FTP applications such as Dartmouth College’s “Fetch.”
Although this approach does not require a Web browser, it is

now more common to incorporate downloadable files into
Web pages because the transfer is automated.
No: This implies that the Internet delivery will be Web based, that
students will work through a browser such as Netscape or
Microsoft’s Internet Explorer.
Question 2.6: Will Web pages for your program be constructed by individ
uals with experience writing HTML code?
Yes: The Web designer can use a text editor, HTML editor, or Web
page composition program.
No: The author should use a Web page composition program such
as Macromedia Dreamweaver, Allaire HomeSite, or Microsoft
FrontPage. Guidance from an experienced Web page designer
is also advisable.
Question 2.7: Will your Web pages include static pictures or graphics?
Yes: You will need image converter programs to save photographs
and line drawings in joint photographic experts group format
(.jpeg or .jpg), graphic interchange format (.gif), tagged image
file format (.tiff), and related formats.
Question 2.8: Will students download files from your Web pages?
Yes: Use file compression programs such as Aladdin Systems Stuffit
Deluxe to increase the rate of transfer.
Question 2.9: Will your Web pages include downloadable files that can be
opened without access to the program creating them?
Yes: Software for creating portable document files (.pdf format) is
needed, for example, Adobe Acrobat.
Question 2.10: Will Web pages include animations or movies?
Yes: Animated gifs (a series of still pictures played in rapid
sequence) do not require plug-ins. More sophisticated vector-
based animations in proprietary formats such as Macromedia
Shockwave Flash (.swf) or Apple QuickTime require a plug-in
for the viewer’s browser. Of course, specialized software also is
needed to generate the animation.
Question 2.11: Will video or audio clips be part of your Web pages?
Yes: Use streaming delivery to make transfer as rapid as possible.
Avoid older formats that require the entire file to transfer
before play begins. The student’s browser must have the ap
propriate plug-in.
OTHER ISSUES
Question 2.12: Will your course include online discussions that do not
require graphics?
Yes: Use bulletin board software for students to post comments and
replies. (Synchronous discussion requires chat room software.)
Question 2.13: Will discussions require that graphics be included?
Yes: Use whiteboard software.
Question 2.14: Do you expect to incorporate online quizzes or tests into
your program?
Yes: Several strategies are available:
1. Use a commercial product such as WebCT that incorporates
tools for constructing, administering, and scoring tests
online.
2. Secure the services of a testing company such as Prometric
Computer Testing Centers.
3. Employ an experienced programmer to write the scripts
needed for managing testing from your institution’s server.
Conclusion
Selecting the most appropriate delivery methods for distance educa

tion begins with identifying the desired educational outcomes and ob
jectives for the course or program. Often, different technologies may be
used to attain the same desired outcomes. Which delivery method con
stitutes the “correct” choice depends on the characteristics of the stu
dent population being served, the host institution’s financial concerns
and resource limitations, and the purely academic goals already identi
fied. The interplay among these concerns is complex and unique to
each institution. We have offered several guiding principles and pro
vided a decision tree to facilitate the selection process facing faculty
and administrators of distance education programs (see Figures 6.1
through 6.5).
Live delivery required?
Yes: No:
Synchronous Asynchronous
Delivery Delivery
Significant visual and See Figure 6.2

voice interaction needed?
No: Yes:
ITV (if students Consider ITV
gather in common)
-OR-
Live streaming video/audio
Netcast (if students do
not gather at remote site)
-OR-
Educational television broadcast
(if students do not gather)
Live audio only needed?
Yes:
Consider telephone conference call:
No: to remote site for many students
Consider using Internet-based -OR
text chat (no graphics) to several different sites for a few students;
-OR- -OR-
Internet conferencing Live Internet streaming audio broadcast
(chat with whiteboard) -OR-
Live radio broadcast
Figure 6.1. Graphical Decision Tree for Selecting Synchronous Delivery

Methods
Are computer-based delivery methods being used?
No Yes:
See Figure 6.3
Are video or audio presentations needed?
No: Yes:
Choices are For video with audio, consider
all print based, videocassette or DVD disk.
from commercial
publishers or produced For audio only, consider
in-house: textbooks, audiocassette or CD-ROM
manuals,
pamphlets, charts,
diagrams, and so on
Figure 6.2. Graphical Decision Tree for Selecting Asynchronous Delivery

Methods Not Requiring Computers
Are Internet or Web-based delivery methods needed?
No: Yes:
Send students needed files E-mail only:
stored on 1.4 MB floppy disks, Anticipate unreliable
high-capacity magnetic storage file transfer
disks, or CD-ROMs by attachments
Yes:
File transfer only:
Set up an FTP site;
students need FTP program;
consider using automated
file transfer by downloads
from Web pages instead
Yes:
Web-based delivery—
Construct Web pages for
delivery of course materials;
students need a Web browser
Continue in Figure 6.4
Figure 6.3. Graphical Decision Tree for Selecting Asynchronous Delivery

Methods Requiring Computers
Will an experienced Web designer prepare course Web pages?
No: Yes:
Use a Web site construction Use a text or HTML editor,
program; consult with or use a Web page
experienced programmer composing program and
as required tweak code as needed
If Web pages are to contain: Then these tools will be needed:

Static graphics Image file converters
Downloadable files Compression for large files
Portable documents A PDF generator program
Animations Composing software and
browser plug-ins for viewing
Video and/or audio Streaming software and
browser plug-ins
Figure 6.4. Graphical Decision Tree for Selecting Asynchronous, Web-Based

Delivery Methods
Other Issues
If you plan to use Then these tools are needed:

Online discussion without graphics Bulletin board software
Online discussion with graphics Chat and whiteboard software
Online testing Code-writing skills or software
vendor
Integrated course management software Commercial product
Figure 6.5. Other Issues to Consider in Selecting Asynchronous, Internet- or

Web-Based Delivery Methods
Visit our Web site to find links to vendors for the products men
tioned in this chapter and links to sites demonstrating or using the tech
nologies we have discussed.
7
Support Services
S tudent support is an essential element of teaching and

learning, and it is of critical importance in distance learning (Phipps,
Wellman, & Merisotis, 1998). In addition, accrediting bodies are con
cerned about the quality of support services to distance learners and can
be expected to carefully examine the areas of admissions, financial aid,
academic advising, delivery of course materials, and placement and
counseling (see Chapter 11). In this chapter, we define support services
broadly to include virtually all the institution’s interactions with stu
dents except those conveying instructional content. Distance students
need almost the same services as do resident students, but traveling to
campus is inconvenient and often not feasible. The challenge is to find
ways to deliver the support services at a distance, just as instruction is
delivered at a distance. Developing the capacity to deliver support ser
vices at a distance often has a double payoff: It helps attract and retain
distance learners, and it can markedly increase convenience and effi
ciency for an institution’s resident students, for example, by enabling
online admissions and registration systems for all students.
115
Continuing advances in technology have made the Internet a ver

satile tool for support services, as have advances in the use of auto
mated telephone information systems. Although institutions have har
nessed both of these to provide high-quality support services, we will
focus primarily on the use of the World Wide Web to deliver support
services. In developing Web-based support services, readers will also
find it helpful to consult the Guide to Developing Online Student Services,
developed by Barbara Krauth and Jennifer Carbajal (2000) and posted
for a limited time on the Web site of the Western Interstate Commission
for Higher Education (WICHE).1 It provides samples of Web pages of
higher education institutions in the West and Midwest that exemplified
good practices in student support services at the time of the study.
Readers may also find it helpful to peruse at the same Web site a related
report by Dirr (1999) of a survey of 417 higher education institutions’
practices in providing support services to distance learners.
Providing support services to distance learners begins as the pro
gram recruits students; continues while the students are enrolled; and
extends even beyond graduation to services for alumni, such as career
counseling and job placement. We will examine support services for
distance students in all three phases.
Before enrollment:
• Information to prospective students

• Admissions
• Financial aid
• Academic advising
• Registration
While enrolled:
• Bookstore services
• Library services
• Technical support
• Tutoring
• Services for students with disabilities
Support Services 117
After course or program completion:
• Transcript service
• Alumni associations
• Continuing education opportunities
• Career services
One key principle is relevant to all the above support areas: Make
the medium providing the services as user-friendly as possible, to en
able distance learners to do as much business as possible. The follow
ing suggestions should be kept in mind in developing Web pages for
support services:
• Create a distance learning page and provide a prominent link to it on

the institution’s home page and on other key Web pages of the institu
tion. See, for example, the University of Washington Web page.2
• Create a menu on the distance course or program home page with links
to each of the support services, and show the menu on each of the sup
port services pages.
• Create links to other pages on the institution’s Web site, such as to the
faculty-staff-student directory.
• Create links to external sites that can serve as useful resources to stu
dents.
• Use a consistent format for the pages for the various support services.
• Consider the vocabulary of the Web page. Use terms easily understood
by prospective and new students.
• Construct Web pages to be accessible to users with disabilities.

• Provide self-service options as much as possible, and make the proce
dures for using them easy to understand.
• Put forms on the Web page in downloadable format. If possible, enable

students to complete and submit them online.
• On the Web page for each support service, provide the name and photo
of a person who can answer additional questions. Provide phone and
fax numbers and an e-mail address for reaching that person.
Support Services Prior to Enrollment
Information for Prospective and New Students
Institutions can use Web sites to provide a great deal of useful in
formation to prospective distance students, regardless of the medium
selected for the instruction. For ITV-based programs, Web sites can
supplement and enhance informational meetings with prospective stu
dents at the community sites. For Web-based instruction, the fit is even
better; retrieval of information about the institution’s educational pro
grams parallels the instructional medium itself.
For either situation, it is important to place a link for distance learn
ing prominently on the home page of the institution. This link can then
lead to a Web page offering a menu of information about the variety of
programs and services for distance learners. It should also inform pro
spective students as clearly as possible about what is expected of them
and what they can expect from the institution, the instructor, and vari
ous support services.
Elements to include on this Web site are the following:
a. Links to descriptions of various programs, certificates, and degrees

offered through distance learning
b. Links to specific course descriptions (Some institutions provide study

guides for many courses and also post these on the Web along with
course syllabi.)
c. Information on costs
d. Information on the transferability of credits
e. Descriptions of admissions, registration, and advising requirements

and procedures
f. Links to admissions staff
g. Thumbnail descriptions (and photos) of instructors, advisers, and key

support staff
h. Descriptions of hardware and software requirements (For a good

example cited in Krauth and Carbajal’s [2000] Guide to Developing
Online Student Services, see National University’s Web site.3)
i. Procedures for setting up a student Internet account at the institution
j. Photos of an ITV classroom or a streaming video excerpt from an ITV

course
k. Samples of a Web-based learning module
l. Links to pages outlining each of the support services noted earlier
m. A list of frequently asked questions (FAQs) and responses to them, as

4
exemplified by Cuesta College’s FAQs
It is important to provide phone numbers, fax numbers, and e-mail

contacts for the person or team designated to assist distance learners, so
that students can receive individual attention to their questions.
Some institutions also build into their Web sites a list of questions
for prospective students designed to help them self-assess their pre
paredness and suitability for distance learning. Typical items in such an
assessment tool ask students about their knowledge of the Internet, e-
mail, word processing, and Web operations and their readiness to learn
new communication skills; about their learning styles and preferences;
and about the time they have available and their abilities to manage
time. An example of a short self-assessment tool is the one developed
by Linn-Benton Community College.5 It can be submitted online and is
then automatically scored and instantly returned to the sender along
with informative feedback on each response chosen by the sender.
Edmonds Community College has developed a self-assessment instru
ment (cited in the Guide to Developing Online Student Services, Krauth &
Carbajal, 2000) that includes a number of questions about the prospec
tive student’s technical skills.6 Prospective students should also be en
couraged to discuss the questions on the self-assessment with admis
sions staff and advisers.
Admissions
Virtually all information relating to admissions can be put on a Web

page, including admission application forms. Some institutions ex
pect prospective students to print the forms, complete them in the
traditional way, and submit them by mail, along with references and
other supporting materials. Increasingly, institutions are enabling
students to submit admission applications online, perhaps supple

mented with mailed materials. Some permit the entire process to be
done online. However the application process is accomplished, clear
instructions should be given to the students, including information
about admission prerequisites, procedures, and deadlines. If online ap
plication is feasible, consider incorporating an option allowing stu
dents to save and return to a partially completed application in case
they don’t have all the information needed at the time they begin work
ing on the forms.
Differing requirements for various academic programs need to be
clearly spelled out, as do rules concerning transfer of credit. Distance
students are sometimes quite eclectic in selecting courses from a variety
of higher education institutions. If they intend their studies to result in
a degree, they must understand the transfer rules and residency re
quirements before enrolling. Some institutions have standing agree
ments with other higher education institutions concerning specific
courses that will be accepted, and putting this information on the Web
site is helpful.
We recommend providing students with an electronic or mailed
confirmation that the admissions application has been received. Appli
cants should also be advised of an approximate date by which they can
expect to learn whether they have been accepted for admission.
Several options should be available to students for paying admis
sion application fees. Although an institution may have established a
highly secure electronic payment system, many students are still not
comfortable paying fees electronically with a credit card, and some do
not have credit cards. Remittance by mailed checks or money orders
should be permitted and a system devised that will reliably and speed
ily match payments to the application forms.
Financial Aid
Many students need financial assistance for enrollment in distance

learning programs. The availability of financial aid is often the deter
mining factor in students’ decisions to pursue higher education and in
their choice of an institution. It also affects the pace at which they com
plete their studies. Thus, making information about financial aid acces
sible to distance students is essential. Web pages can make detailed in
formation instantly accessible as well as make it easy for students to

apply for financial aid. The following information (at a minimum)
should be included on the financial aid Web page:
a. Realistic estimates of the costs of distance education at the institution,

including the costs of information access
b. Information about the institution’s general policies and categories of

financial aid (loans, scholarships, etc.) and the eligibility criteria for
each
c. Information about the application process for financial aid
d. Information on how to reach the institution’s financial aid counselors

(names and photos, e-mail addresses, hours available) and a toll-free
number to call
e. Timelines and deadlines for the financial aid process
f. A link to the institution’s financial aid forms, so that they can be

downloaded or completed online, for example, as at the University of
New Mexico Web site7
g. Information about federal financial aid such as the Free Application

for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and a link to the online FAFSA8
9
h. Links to other external resources for financial aid
Academic Advising
Good advising is key to student retention and to students’ progress

toward completion of courses and programs. Much information help
ful to students’ planning can be put on institution Web pages, and the
information can be organized in a way that maximizes the students’
ability to make good choices. Institutions should facilitate personal
contact between a distance student and a faculty or professional ad
viser. This contact is perhaps even more important than it is for a resi
dent student. Distance students, like resident students, want to feel
connected with the institution, but they lack the opportunities for the
everyday, face-to-face contact with instructors, advisers, and peers that
exist for on-campus students. In short, distance programs have to work
harder than traditional on-campus programs to create a milieu sup
portive to students, and advisers have a key role to play in this process.
We will have more to say in Chapter 8 about the adviser’s role and
about ways to help create a community of learners whereby students
can also be of assistance to each other. In the context of the present
chapter, we suggest some ways that institutions can organize advising
services for distance students:
a. Identify a specific person (faculty member or professional adviser)

who will be available to the student throughout the period of his or
her enrollment. Institutions differ in how they assign the advising
function, depending on their resources, their traditions, and their
staff. But however advising is assigned, the student deserves to be
informed at the time of admission who the adviser will be and how to
contact him or her.
b. Post information on faculty or staff advisers on the Web, including

phone numbers, e-mail addresses, and a photo.
c. Install a toll-free phone number for students to connect with advisers.
d. Post on the Web the hours that advisers will be available to answer
students’ questions by phone or e-mail.
e. Post on the Web information on courses, majors, and degree require

ments, so that it is readily accessible to students, advisers, and faculty.
f. Clarify whether the institution requires a student to secure the

adviser’s approval to register. If it does, enable advisers to give their
approval online.
g. Post student handbooks and bulletin information on the Web.
h. Post on the Web downloadable forms needed to petition for course

substitutions or waivers, to declare a major, to apply for graduation,
and so on. If possible, enable students to submit these online.
i. Develop a system that affords students secure online access to their

record of courses and grades. Various types of software for this are
available commercially; some programs also let students update parts
of their personal records, such as addresses and phone numbers.
Registration
Course registration can be accomplished online quickly and easily

for both distance and resident students, and institutions have generally
found it worthwhile to make the front-end investment required to ac

complish this. Institutions using online access typically have cut the
time required of students for registration from several hours (most of it
spent standing in line) to just a few minutes. It is of even greater benefit
to distance students, for whom a trip to campus may not be feasible. We
recommend incorporating the following elements into Web pages for
registration:
a. A description of the different ways that students can register: in per

son, online, or by mail, and the steps for doing each
b. Downloadable registration forms or instructions for online regis

tration
c. Information on registration periods and priorities—who is permitted

to register at what time
d. Course numbers, descriptions, and prerequisites
e. The schedule of classes, including instructional modality, instructors,

meeting times (if synchronous instruction), and (for ITV) the locations
of the various receiving sites
f. Information on course enrollment limits and, if possible, instantly

updated information on the availability of each course (possible with
some online registration software)
g. Links to segments of policy documents related to registration, such as

institutional bulletins and handbooks
h. Links to faculty advisers’ phone numbers and e-mail addresses
i. Information on late fees, course withdrawals and refunds, course can

cellation policies, holds on registrations, and time limits for adding or
canceling a course
j. A means for online confirmation of a student’s registration in the

courses selected
For an example of online registration incorporating these elements,

visit the site developed by the University of Minnesota that is part of a
more comprehensive student services package.10
Support Services for Enrolled Students
Bookstore Services
Campus bookstores can serve distance students through the

Internet as fully as they serve resident students. Consider these aspects
in setting up bookstore services for distance learners:
a. Enable students to shop online for textbooks, course packets, supplies,

and other items.
b. Enable students to quickly access information on the required and

supplementary texts for each course, prices, and whether new and
used copies are available.
c. Permit students to submit an online request to reserve copies of texts

that have not yet arrived at the bookstore.
d. Display images of some of the nonbook merchandise, including cloth

ing and other articles carrying the institution’s name—items that can
help students identify with the institution.
e. Set up the Web page on the shopping cart model, whereby a student
can click on an item and add it to the order.
f. Provide for online confirmation of the order.
g. Enable students to pay by mail or online with a credit card.
h. Provide for U.S. mail or package delivery service to students’ homes

or offices.
i. If possible, design the system so students can check online to see

whether the order has been shipped.
j. Post the bookstore’s policies on merchandise returns and on textbook

buy-back policies.
Library Services
Critics of distance education sometimes cite the difficulty of pro

viding library services as its biggest drawback. Yet as technology has
improved, library services have become similar for distance and resi
dent students. More and more information is becoming available on
line, including hundreds of searchable online journal indexes, full texts
of many journals and books, electronic databases, and splendid ar

chives of images and documents for use in courses in almost every
field. Resident students do still have an advantage of being able to wan
der through the campus library’s stacks to locate related materials and
to quickly check out printed material. Campus libraries, however, are
rapidly developing ways to extend services to distance students, in
cluding the following suggestions:
a. Set up an electronic reserve system that puts assigned course readings

online (with permission from the copyright holders); students can
quickly access these items without having to purchase a course
packet.
b. Post on the Web information about the full range of library resources
and services and create a library Web page specifically for distance
learners (see, for example, the University of Minnesota Libraries’ Web
page for distance learning11).
c. Assign certain library staff members to focus on working with dis

tance learners, and post that information on the library’s distance
learning Web pages.
d. Provide distance students online access to electronic resources

(indexes, full text materials, etc.), and provide easy-to-understand
instructions for accessing material.
e. Provide reference services through a toll-free number and through e-

mail.
f. Work with ITV course instructors and community or campus libraries

near the distant sites to make materials available locally.
g. Make it possible for students to borrow books and materials by U.S. or

private mail and send some documents (for example, those in the pub
lic domain or others with no copyright restrictions) electronically or
by fax.
h. Establish the means for students to request materials online.
i. Post information on interlibrary loan policies and procedures.
j. Create links on the Web pages to resources providing guidance on

how to develop term papers and other projects, how to search for
information, how to evaluate information, and how to cite sources.
Readers will find the Guidelines for Distance Learning Library Services
published by the Association of College and Research Libraries helpful
in their own distance education programs.12
Technical Support
Distance education demands adequate technical support. For ITV-

based programs, this means equipping electronic classrooms and train
ing technical support staff to operate the equipment and to fix prob
lems that may arise during the transmission of classes. ITV students
themselves need only a few instructions concerning use of micro
phones (and a few other instructions concerning electronic classroom
etiquette) to become fully engaged. For Web-based courses and for
Web-enhanced ITV courses, however, students will need considerably
more technical help, both before and during the course. Course instruc
tors can give limited assistance with some problems, but typically they
do not want to spend much time on technical support, viewing it as a
distraction from their main tasks of teaching the course content. More
over, many instructors do not have sufficient expertise to be of real help
to students. It is better to set up a “Help Desk” staffed by persons who
understand the hardware and software. Many institutions already
have a Help Desk in place for resident students, faculty, and staff, and
service to distance learners can be added to it. Assistance should be
available for extended hours because many online students do their
coursework in the late evening or early morning, and some programs
may serve students in different time zones. The following points
should be kept in mind when setting up technical support:
a. Develop a training module for each instructional template used by the

institution, which students can use to learn their way around Web-
enhanced or Web-based courses. For an example, visit the WebCT
training module used at the University of Minnesota.13
b. Encourage prospective and new students to consult with the Help

Desk before selecting computer hardware and software for purchase,
or create Web pages and handouts clearly explaining which hardware
and software is appropriate for the program.
c. Set up a Web page describing the technical support services available,

their hours, and who is eligible to use them.
d. Provide a toll-free number for students seeking technical support, and

advertise it on the program or course Web pages.
e. Create a listserv for students enrolled in the distance education pro

grams so they can be notified in advance of changes in hours or inter
ruptions in technical support.
f. Develop and post on the Web a detailed set of frequently asked ques
tions (FAQs) for troubleshooting problems with hardware and
software.
Tutoring
Tutoring occurs in several contexts in distance education. In some

institutions, independent study coupled with individualized instruc
tion is the central activity of a course. In others, tutoring is an optional,
supplementary form of support intended for those students needing
extra help. The tutor may be the instructor, a teaching assistant, or an
other staff member assigned specifically to this task. Some institutions
provide special staff for tutoring in certain areas, such as writing skills.
Tutoring at a distance can be accomplished by e-mail, telephone,
fax, or regular mail, as in traditional correspondence courses. The
Internet also opens up possibilities for group tutoring and for peer
tutoring through use of chat rooms or online discussion groups. In
Chapter 8, we will discuss how peer-to-peer arrangements can build a
learning community that also helps sustain students’ motivation and
retention.
Consider the following suggestions when setting up tutoring
services:
a. Afford students tutoring online or by phone if possible, so that feed

back is more immediate.
b. Post on the Web information about the availability of tutoring or other

instructional support, noting times and phone numbers of staff.
c. Provide a toll-free number if tutoring is made available by telephone.
d. Post on the Web suggestions on how to study, how to take tests, how to
use group sessions on the Internet, and so on (also see Chapter 3).
e. Create links to external resources on effective studying.

Services for Distance Learners With Disabilities
There are three main reasons for organizing an institution’s dis

tance education program so that it is accessible to distance learners
with disabilities. First, institutions have a legal obligation to do so. Sec
ond, an ethical obligation arises because distance education may be the
best (and in some situations the only) available means to an education
for some individuals with disabilities. Third, today’s society needs
competent, reliable workers. We cannot afford to overlook any person’s
potential (Paist, 1995).
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans
With Disabilities Act of 1990 make unlawful the exclusion from educa
tional programs of otherwise qualified individuals with disabilities, as
a matter of civil rights. Institutions, faculty, and staff must make ser
vices accessible by making reasonable accommodation. In doing so, how
ever, institutions have a legal right to “provide the accommodation that
guarantees students equal access to services at the most reasonable cost
to the institution and to request documentation of disability once a stu
dent has enrolled” (Paist, 1995, p. 62). In seeking to comply with the
law, some institutions have developed guidelines to help campuses,
departments, and faculty members create accommodation for distance
learners (Carnevale, 1999). For example, the California Community
Colleges System (1999) has published a comprehensive set of guide
lines for online accessibility.
Beyond the legalities, however, is a growing realization that the
flexibility in time, space, and media encompassed by distance learning
can have special advantages compared with traditional classroom edu
cation in creating access for students with disabilities. Students with
mobility impairment benefit from having courses delivered to their
homes or offices. Students who are hearing impaired may learn better
from Web-based courses than from traditional lectures. Students with
certain types of learning disabilities may benefit from being able to con
trol the pace of learning, rather than having to try to keep up with class
mates. As experience with distance courses becomes more widespread,
the number of distance learners who have disabilities may be expected
to grow.
The term disability encompasses a broad range of individual situa
tions. Experience suggests that the most satisfactory outcomes for stu
dents with disabilities occur when individuals’ needs are considered
case by case, with reference to the student’s particular situation and the
course or courses planned. Most institutions have a designated office or
staff person to assist students with disabilities. To be effective, this of
fice must be involved early in the planning with both student and in
structor(s). Paist (1995) notes that “information, consultation, and ex
pert advice can be obtained from many outside sources to supplement
that provided by the student” (p. 64), such as vocational rehabilitation
agencies, health care providers, other assessment professionals, cam
pus disability offices, advocacy groups, and so on. Paist identifies and
describes in considerable detail the various aspects of providing ser
vices to students with disabilities enrolled with University of Wiscon
sin Extension Independent Study.
Inform students with disabilities or their advocates about the services pro
vided. All course catalogs, student handbooks, course guides, and reg
istration materials should include an explanation of the institution’s
policy concerning the rights and responsibilities of students with dis
abilities. For example, all independent study course guides at the Uni
versity of Wisconsin include the following statement:
Independent Study is committed to providing reasonable accommo

dation for students with disabilities. Such accommodation includes
making course materials available in accessible delivery formats (for
example, large print, cassette tape, scripts, and computer disk) and
adapting written assignment and exam procedures as appropriate. If
you are a student with disabilities and would like to discuss accom
modation, please contact Independent Study (608-263-2055; toll-free:
800-442-6460; TTY: 608-262-8662). We ask that you request alternate,
accessible course delivery formats at least eight weeks before begin
ning work on the course, and testing and written-assignment accom
modation well in advance of need. (Paist, 1995, p. 65)
The disabilities services office also sends a letter to vocational rehabili

tation field offices inviting counselors to consider the program’s suit
ability for their clients and to refer them to the office.
Plan for each student’s accommodation needs on a case-by-case

basis. Each individual’s needs are different, and students then are more
likely to feel their needs are understood. Many institutions find it
useful to appoint a disabilities liaison who communicates both with

students and with faculty and support services staff, sometimes serv
ing as an advocate. Assigning the liaison tasks to the same staff mem
ber(s) helps the institution accumulate knowledge about disabilities
and use that information in its planning.
Students with disabilities need accessible instruction. This may mean

communication via a different medium. Students who are visually
impaired may need to submit their assignments on tape rather than in
writing, and instructors may need to tape-record, rather than write,
their comments on the work. Some students who are learning disabled
may need more time to complete assignments. E-mail or a teletype
writer (TTY) connection may work best for some students who are
hearing impaired (Paist, 1995).
Course materials need to be made accessible. Large-size print, Braille,

scripts, or captioning may be the best choice in some situations. Getting
print materials into an electronic format enables the content to be con
verted electronically to other formats, such as Braille or synthesized
speech. Many works used in college courses are also available through
sources such as Project Gutenberg,14 the Oxford Text Archive,15 and
Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic16 (Paist, 1995). For students who are
hearing impaired, scripts of audiotapes and captioning of video mate
rials can be provided. Paist notes that “it is best—and cheapest—to
plan ahead and make the scripts or captions as the tape is being devel
oped” (p. 68), rather than later, when the process is more expensive and
time-consuming. Likewise, it is much less expensive to design Web
pages at the outset with accommodation of disabilities in mind; it is
much more expensive to redesign them later (Carnevale, 1999).
Make the means for testing accessible. Paist (1995) comments that the
accommodations may include arranging for students to take a proc
tored exam at their own sites or involve changing the test format
(although not the content), for example, allowing an oral instead of a
written exam, permitting students to tape their answers, changing
from a fill-in-the-blank test to a multiple-choice format, allowing more
time to complete the exam, reducing or eliminating distractions, and so
on. The Association for Higher Education and Disability is a source of
excellent publications on testing accommodations.17 Students with dis
abilities are expected to demonstrate as much knowledge of the course

content as other students; the means for assessing the knowledge, how
ever, may need to be altered.
Offer support and training to faculty and staff on accommodating disabil

ities. Instructors need to know well ahead of time about the needs of
students who will be enrolled in their classes, as do advisers and other
support services staff. The liaison staff alerts the appropriate people as
soon as a student with a verified disability has contacted their office,
emphasizing that program staff will help solve accommodation needs
and also that instructors have a legal and moral obligation to provide
reasonable accommodations. Occasional workshops for faculty and
staff on typical disabilities and accommodations are also helpful in
raising awareness and in providing information.
Federal and state sources of funding are available for accommodation and
for research on accommodation. It will be useful in locating this funding to
talk with the same agencies that provide help with assessment and
accommodation, such as a state division of vocational rehabilitation
(Paist, 1995).
As with other support services, the Web is an important tool for

serving distance students with disabilities. The Guide to Developing On
line Student Services (Krauth & Carbajal, 2000) referred to previously
includes the following suggestions for all Web pages used by distance
learners:
a. Create a text-only version of all Web pages.
b. Use the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (W3C), which explain how
to make Web content more accessible to persons with disabilities.18
c. Test Web pages using Bobby, a free service provided by the Center for
Applied Special Technology to “help Web page authors identify and
repair significant barriers to access by individuals with disabilities.”19
d. Include on the Web page general information about services for stu
dents with disabilities and laws and policies regarding access and
accommodation. Identify the disabilities that qualify, and make clear
what documentation is required to receive services.
e. Describe the types of services available.
f. Create links to other useful sites with information for students with
disabilities, rather than duplicating effort. The links page developed
by Illinois State University is suggested as an exemplar by Krauth and
Carbajal’s Guide.20 Also helpful are the WebAble site21 and the Univer
sity of Toronto Special Needs Opportunity Windows (SNOW) site.22
The latter has a particularly useful page concerning adaptive technol
ogy, such as alternative keyboards, alternative mouse systems, optical
character recognition, personal data assistants, refreshable Braille dis
plays, screen magnifiers, screen readers, text-to-speech systems, and
voice recognition systems.
g. Post a faculty and staff guide for working with students with dis
abilities.
h. Consider developing a Web page concerning career information spe

cifically for students with disabilities.
In sum, distance education can be made accessible to distance students

with disabilities. With advance planning and coordination of instruc
tors, students, the office of disabilities services, and other support staff,
accommodation can be accomplished.
Support Services After

Course or Program Completion
An institution should continue its relationship with distance students

after they have completed their programs of study for several impor
tant reasons. First, many of the students will need some continuing ser
vices, such as transcripts and career services. Second, reinforcing dis
tance students’ identification with the institution is mutually
beneficial: The students gain from pride in affiliation, and the institu
tion gains loyal supporters. Third, distance students who have previ
ously taken courses or degrees from the institution may later decide to
take additional courses or degrees from the institution and may refer
others as prospective students. Thus, alumni of distance courses are
also important for the continuing marketing of the program. For all
these reasons, it is important to stay in touch with those who have
completed courses or degrees. Suggestions for ways to reinforce the

connection are described below.
Staying in Touch
a. Make it easy for alumni to update their addresses and other personal
information, preferably online.
b. Enable alumni to easily request and receive transcripts, including
downloadable prints of their unofficial transcripts.
c. Encourage alumni to join alumni associations and other alumni activi
ties, and post updates of activities on the Web.
d. Encourage alumni to subscribe to a listserv from the institution. Use
the listserv, along with the Web and regular mail, to inform alumni
and others about credit and noncredit continuing education offerings.
Career Services
Career services are an important resource for students, both while

enrolled and after graduation. Typical services include working with
students and alumni to help them identify their career focus; helping
students and alumni develop a strong résumé; helping students
sharpen interviewing skills; providing information and resources
about careers, employers, and specific job vacancies; providing work
shops relating to career opportunities; maintaining a placement service
and system for sending résumés to prospective employers; communi
cating principles for negotiating and evaluating job offers; organizing
job fairs, company information sessions, and on-site company inter
views; and facilitating networking with employers and alumni. Not all
these services can be provided at a distance. For example, mock inter
viewing (simulation of the interview situation, coupled with feedback
to the student or alumnus) should simulate as realistically as possible
the typical situation, which in many cases means face-to-face inter
viewing. Videoconferencing and telephone interviewing are some
times also used to interview applicants, however, and these modalities
can be offered to distance students and alumni. Likewise, job fairs and
company information sessions are conducted on campus. But many
other career services can be offered at a distance through the Web, by
e-mail, or with CD-ROMs or videotapes.
The Web can be useful for communicating career services informa

tion to distance learners in several ways:
a. List the full array of career services offered by the institution and who
is eligible to use them. Potential users include alumni, current stu
dents, prospective students, employers, and others in the community.
b. Include descriptions of opportunities to gain valuable experience

such as internships, part-time employment, volunteer activities, and
international work-study possibilities.
c. Create links to online tools that can help learners assess their values,
preferences, interests, and skills.
d. Post information describing career paths that can result from the vari
ous majors offered.
e. Create a link to the U.S. Occupational Outlook Handbook and other

career resource handbooks.23
f. Post basic information about preparing a résumé, professional eti

quette, tips for interviewing, how to follow up an interview, and so on.
g. Post information on current job openings, local and nationwide. Some

institutions require a password for access to these listings; others
make them available to anyone.
h. Create listservs for current job openings organized by major to which

students and alumni can subscribe.
i. Create job search links that will help alumni and students connect to
interactive job search Web sites, job listing Web sites, and sites specific
to jobs open in particular degrees or majors.
j. Create links to professional associations and job registries associated

with the various majors offered by the institution.
k. Consider developing a searchable online database of alumni and oth

ers who are willing to share career experiences and tips by e-mail with
current students and alumni.
l. Enable alumni and students to register online for placement services,

submit materials online, and receive employer contact information
online. Some institutions have also developed an automated system
whereby employers are automatically sent résumés of prospective
applicants who fit their criteria. For an example of an automated
recruiting system, see the CARS system at the University of Minnesota
24
Carlson School of Management. Also worthy of note is a project
sponsored by the Learning Anytime Anywhere Partnership and
funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Fund for the Improve
ment of Postsecondary Education—“Beyond the Administrative
Core: Creating Web-Based Student Services for Online Learners.” It is
expected to result in
a commercially developed package of web-based services,
including those not currently available from any software
company; student services modules developed at four partner
institutions; a set of guidelines for institutions interested in
building their own “home-grown” web-based services; and
detailed accounts of the institutional change processes
required to implement an array of web-based services.25
Summary
In this chapter, we have discussed various ways that institutions can

support learners at a distance. Students will be more encouraged to en
roll in distance education if support services are delivered in user-
friendly ways that reduce or minimize traveling to campus. The Web
can be used to deliver a wide array of support services, and resident
students also benefit from this mode of access. We listed some princi
ples for Web design that apply to most or all the support services, such
as the following:
• Creating a link on the institution’s home page to a page exclusively for

distance learning programs
• Linking the distance education Web pages to the pages for various sup
port services
• Creating links to advisers, financial aid counselors, admissions and

registration staff, and others, and providing cost-free ways to contact
them
• Using a consistent format for Web pages
• Making forms downloadable or returnable online
• Providing FAQs and self-assessment tools

• Making instruction, support services, and Web pages accessible to per

sons with disabilities
• Creating links to external resources
We also encourage institutions to develop or adapt software pack

ages—several are now available commercially—that offer a compre
hensive array of support services online. Underlying all these sugges
tions is the view that distance students are an important and growing
constituency for higher education institutions. The development of
new technologies makes it possible to serve these students, who differ
from traditional college students in many ways. Institutions that view
distance learners as valuable resources and that carefully design sup
port services to serve them will reap dividends in the form of satisfied
and loyal learners and an enhanced reputation for delivering a quality
program.
On our companion Web site are links to institutions providing ex

emplary support services to distance learners. There are lists of addi
tional resources for students with disabilities and institutions seeking
to make their distance courses more accessible.
Notes
1. www.wiche.edu/telecom/resources/publications/index.htm
2. www.outreach.washington.edu/dl/
3. www.online.nu.edu/index.real?action=technical
4. http://library.cuesta.cc.ca.us/distance/faqs.htm
5. http://cf.lbcc.cc.or.us/disted/de_survey.cfm
6. http://online.edcc.edu/selfassess.html
7. www.unm.edu/~finaid/eform01/
8. www.fafsa.ed.gov/
9. www.finaid.org and www.collegenet.com
10. www.onestop.umn.edu/enrollment/enroll.html
11. www.lib.umn.edu/dist/
12. www.ala.org/acrl/
13. www3.extension.umn.edu/media/module0/
14. www.gutenberg.net/
15. www.ota.ahds.ac.uk/ota/index.html
16. www.rfbd.org/
17. www.ahead.org
18. www.w3.org/TR/WCAG/
19. www.cast.org/bobby/
20. www.ilstu.edu/depts/disabilityconcerns/links.shtml
21. www.Webable.com/aboutsite.html
22. snow.utoronto.ca/learn_tech.html
23. http://stats.bls.gov/ocohome.htm
24. www.csom.umn.edu/
25. www.wiche.edu/telecom/projects/laap/index.htm
References
Americans With Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C.A., § 12101 et seq. (West 1993).
California Community Colleges. (1999). Distance education: Access guidelines for
students with disabilities. Sacramento, CA: Office of the Chancellor.
Carnevale, D. (1999). Colleges strive to give disabled students access to on-line
courses. Chronicle of Higher Education, 46(10), A69-A70.
Dirr, P. J. (1999, December). Putting principles into practice: Promoting effec
tive support services for students in distance learning programs: A report on
the findings of a survey [Online]. Retrieved from the World Wide Web:
www.wiche.edu/telecom/resources/publications/index.htm (Available
from the Western Cooperative for Educational Telecommunications, P.O.
Box 9752, Boulder, CO 80301)
Krauth, B., & Carbajal, J. (2000). Guide to developing online student services. Boul
der, CO: Western Cooperative for Educational Telecommunications.
Paist, E. H. (1995). Serving students with disabilities in distance education pro
grams. American Journal of Distance Education, 9(1), 61-70.
Phipps, R. A., Wellman, J. V., & Merisotis, J. P. (1998). Assuring quality in distance
learning: A preliminary review. Washington, DC: Council for Higher Educa
tion Accreditation.
Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Pub. L. No. 93-112, § 504, 29 U.S.C. § 794.
8
Ensuring High Completion Rates
T he enrollment of a student—whether distance or tradi

tional—in a program represents an investment of resources by the insti
tution and by the student. This is true even before the student partici
pates in the first session of the first course. The institution has already
invested resources in recruiting, admitting, and advising that student.
Likewise, the student has invested time and money in finding the pro
gram, securing necessary equipment and study materials, and paying
tuition. Both parties, therefore, have an interest in the completion of the
planned program of study. Students who drop out represent at least
some wasted resources. Moreover, one important criterion used by stu
dents, parents, college guidebooks, accrediting bodies, legislatures,
and others to evaluate and compare higher education institutions is the
percentage of students who complete the program (Shale & Gomes,
1998). Some state legislatures have begun to link appropriations to com
pletion rates (Reisberg, 1999). Institutions thus have good reasons to be
concerned about their completion rates. In this chapter, we discuss the
problem of noncompletion or dropout in general and with reference to
139
distance programs. We then suggest some strategies for reducing the

problem in distance education programs.
The Problem of Retention
Although drop-out rates at some institutions have remained steady

during the last decade, those of other institutions have increased some
what. Not surprisingly, a 1998 study conducted by the American Col
lege Testing Program found that drop-out rates are lowest (8.8%) at the
most selective institutions and highest (46.2%) at the least selective in
stitutions (cited in Reisberg, 1999). Some observers attribute declining
completion rates to the strong U.S. economy, whose immediate re
wards appeal to many students more than attending college does. In
the case of community colleges, the decline probably also reflects the
reality that for-profit institutions and online courses are cutting into the
market of adult, part-time learners who historically have been served
by these institutions. Some community colleges have hired consultants
to help them with the issue of student retention (Lords, 2000). Other in
stitutions with lower completion rates have initiated special efforts to
retain students, such as creating a small residential college-within-a
college for freshmen and promoting learning communities in which
small groups of students meet regularly to study and bond with each
other (Reisberg, 1999). The main focus of many of these programs is to
encourage greater social interaction of students on campus to produce
a greater sense of belonging, increased retention, and improved educa
tional outcomes (Wisely & Jorgensen, 2000).
Retention in Distance Education Programs
The completion rates of distance programs also deserve scrutiny. Al

though no national data on completion rates yet exist for distance pro
grams, data have been collected at some institutions. According to Carr
(2000), these studies have generally suggested that distance programs
do tend to have somewhat lower course completion and program re
tention rates than do comparable residential programs. Carr observes,
Ensuring High Completion Rates 141
Although there is significant variation among institutions—with

some reporting course-completion rates of more than 80 percent and
others finding that fewer than 50 percent of distance-education stu
dents finish their courses—several administrators concur that course-
completion rates are often 10 to 20 percentage points higher in tradi
tional courses than in distance offerings. (p. A39)
Factors Affecting Completion Rates in

Distance Education Programs
Various explanations have been suggested for lower completion

rates of distance students than those of residential students. Some ex
planations focus on student characteristics, some on instructor charac
teristics, some on institutional supports (or the lack thereof), and some
on the nature of distance learning itself.
Student Characteristics. Student characteristics suggested as con

tributing to higher drop-out rates among distance students include
having heavier time commitments to work and family responsibilities
and more frequent changes of employment. Of course, it is precisely
these demands that motivate many individuals to select distance
courses instead of traditional courses because distance education
affords greater flexibility in schedule and reduces or eliminates com
muting time. Some experts even argue that distance students in their
late teens and early 20s are more at risk of noncompletion because older
students may be better able to work independently (Carr, 2000).
Other studies have focused on the preparedness of students for dis
tance learning, such as work habits, capacity for self-direction, self-
confidence, and so on. For example, Carr, Fullerton, Severino, and
McHugh (1996) found in a study of a 2-year distance program in nurse-
midwifery that the best predictors of completion were related to the
students’ approaches to studying. Students who dropped out were
“less aggressive in their study habits, less likely to use the resources of a
study partner, less likely to allocate sufficient time for their studies, and
less likely to use the modes of communication that were available”
(p. 127). Carr et al. note that their findings are similar to those from
other studies, in that demographic characteristics were “less predictive
of continuation in an educational program than was the degree of social
support received during the program of studies” (p. 127). Similarly,

Greer, Hudson, and Paugh (1998) found in a study of adult online
learners that the most common themes in students’ perceptions of suc
cess were budgeting time, being self-motivated, and having supportive
friends and family. Parker (1995) found students’ lack of time manage
ment skills and ill-defined educational goals to be the primary reasons
noncompleters gave for dropping out. Fjortoft (1996) found in a study
of a distance program in pharmacy that the level of students’ comfort
with individualized learning was a significant factor in predicting con
tinuance in the program. Students’ learning styles also have been
found to be related to the drop-out rate (Terrell & Dringus, 1999-2000).
Instructor Characteristics. Instructor inexperience with distance

education and poor teaching may be important factors in student drop
out. Some students who drop out complain that they have not received
personal attention and that there is a lack of immediate feedback from
instructors (Carr, 2000). Some authorities argue that this aspect of the
drop-out problem will diminish through time, however, because dis
tance technology is continually improving and because faculty mem
bers are rapidly gaining experience as more and more institutions offer
distance programs and courses. Evidence for the growth of distance
education is found in a survey commissioned by the National Educa
tion Association (NEA, 2000). It reveals that currently 1 in 10 higher
education NEA members teaches a distance course and that 90% of
NEA members teaching traditional courses report that distance learn
ing courses are offered or being considered at their institution. It seems
likely that a high proportion of faculty across a wide array of institu
tions will soon have experience with distance instruction.
Support Services. Some institutions that have developed distance

courses and degree programs continue to deliver student support ser
vices only in the traditional way. As we discussed in Chapter 7, it is
often difficult for distance learners to come to campus for advising, ori
entation, tutoring, and meetings with the instructor. Luedtke (1999)
found that although distance education programs in Texas public 2
year community and technical colleges provided a great deal of infor
mation on the Web, students in many of the programs still had to go to
the campus for advising and counseling services. Also, learning

resources, such as libraries and electronic databases, were accessible
through only 77% of the Web sites. If distance students’ access to
needed services is limited, it should not surprise us that more of them
become discouraged or feel isolated and drop out.
The Nature of Distance Education. Some educators maintain that we

should expect distance completion rates to be lower than those for resi
dential programs, given that distance students typically do not engage
in full-time study and that earning a degree entirely through part-time
study becomes a lengthy and daunting undertaking. Instead, it is quite
typical for a student to take only one or several courses by distance
education, sometimes because they fill a particular gap in a person’s
education, because they are courses specified by an employer, or
because students shop around for distance courses that can be applied
to degree programs at other institutions (Shale & Gomes, 1998). Other
writers maintain that distance education inevitably entails a reduction
in student-faculty and student-student interaction and that because the
amount of person-to-person interaction is central to retention, distance
course and program drop-out rates will always be higher than rates for
residential students. In rebuttal, some educators hold that the interac
tion between faculty and students and among students is sometimes
greater in distance education than in traditional courses and that the
level of interaction depends on how the courses are structured. No
doubt there is considerable variation in the level of interaction among
programs and among courses within the same program. Moreover, stu
dents’ expectations concerning the interaction required of them also
vary considerably. Those who expect intensive interaction but find the
interaction level quite low are probably more inclined to drop out than
those whose experience matches their expectations.
Our view on completion rates is that many factors contribute to
student completion and that each of the factors previously cited proba
bly contributes partially to dropout by distance students. We agree that
person-to-person interaction is central to the problem, but we think
that distance programs can do a number of things to increase course
and program completion rates. In the remainder of this chapter, we
suggest some strategies for improving retention.
Strategies for Improving Completion Rates
In this section, we recommend several active measures that a distance

education program can implement to address the problem of low com
pletion rates.
Realize that higher education is in a new environment. Distance learn

ers’ motivations, needs, and plans are typically much more varied than
those of resident students. The working assumptions and stereotypes
held by faculty, staff, and administrators about student characteristics
need to be thoroughly reexamined—educators are dealing now with
new constituencies, or, in business terms, with new markets. Therefore,
it is important to conduct a thorough assessment of students’ needs,
perceptions, and preferences prior to launching a distance education
program (Chapter 2). A study of the program preferences of potential
students in relation to course type, delivery method, and time avail
ability found that there was no “average” student and that no one pro
gram could satisfy the needs of all students. Instead, four segments of
the student population were identified, each with distinct preferences.
After considering this information, the program (an engineering edu
cation consortium) then could focus on one or more segments based on
students’ program preferences and the resources needed to provide the
program (Bunn & Barnes, 1999). With the spread of distance education,
and especially of online learning, many students now have a much
wider choice of educational opportunities than they did previously.
Most institutions cannot afford to assume that they will continue to
receive and retain students from their traditional constituencies in the
same numbers as before.
Do thorough preadmission counseling. This will help both the stu

dents and the institution determine if the distance program is a good fit
with the students’ interests, abilities, and preparation. Some students
may not sufficiently realize the extent of the demands that distance
learning will make on them in working independently, in doing home
work, in staying on schedule, in locating resources, in interacting with
other students electronically, and in participating fully in the course in
general. As a result, they may become discouraged and drop out. Thus,
institutions need to educate prospective students about the “facts of
life” concerning distance learning as early as possible and to help those

who are unprepared—either by assisting them in gaining the requisite
skills for success in a distance education program or by encouraging
them not to enroll. Written materials can be used to supplement one-
on-one counseling. Zajkowski (1993) found that a preenrollment coun
seling booklet made a difference in the completion rates for prospective
business students in New Zealand. Although institutional resources
must be committed to preadmission counseling, the investment will
benefit both the students and the institution.
Treat each student as an individual. This old admonition is especially

relevant to distance education. A key variable in student retention is
the extent to which students feel recognized and appreciated as indi
viduals. This implies that faculty and staff who have direct contact with
students must work harder than ever to become acquainted with stu
dents as individuals. In addition to initiating communication with indi
vidual students, some instructors take steps such as posting on the
course Web site photographs that were taken on the first day of class
(with students’ permission). Other instructors facilitate student-cre
ated Web pages or encourage active use of a course bulletin board
(Morley & LaMaster, 1999).
Respond as soon as possible to students’ questions and comments. The

rapidity of the instructor’s response affects students’ feelings of con
nection to the distance program. Many distance instructors set aside a
specific time each day when they respond by phone or e-mail to stu
dents’ questions. As we commented in Chapter 3, it is also helpful to
provide toll-free phone numbers to make it easier for students to call.
Initiate communication with students. Be proactive. Phone calls and

e-mails from staff, advisers, and instructors can make a big difference
in the extent to which students feel connected with the institution. Dis
tance learning requires instructors and staff to be the initiators of com
munication with students more than is true for residential instruction,
in which students and instructors typically see each other two or three
times a week or more. Distance education calls for something of a
change from the traditional faculty-student relationship, in which fac
ulty are usually in a reactive role in communicating individually with
students. In a study of commuter students, Johnson (1997) found that
faculty-student and staff-student interaction and connection were the

most important characteristics distinguishing the retained students
from those who dropped out.
Faculty and administrators considering distance education some
times are concerned that it requires substantially more time for interac
tion with students outside class than does resident instruction. Indeed
it does. The NEA study (2000) found an enormous amount of faculty-
student communication, most of it by e-mail:
Eighty-three percent (83%) of faculty teaching web-based courses use

email to communicate with a typical student in their class once a week
or more. Almost half (42%) of faculty teaching non-web-based
courses use email to communicate with a typical student once a week
or more. (p. 23)
Telephone contact was used by 85% of faculty at least once during the
semester, with about half of the faculty using phone contact at least
twice a month.
The NEA study (2000) also found that
faculty teaching courses with more student interaction are more

likely than their counterparts with less student interaction to hold an
overall more positive [attitude] toward their distance course. Faculty
with frequent student interaction also give their distance learning
course higher ratings on meeting the goals NEA has determined are
essential to a quality education. In terms of these benchmarks, dis
tance learning courses with more interaction are more successful.
(p. 24)
Thus, communicating with distance students individually is im

portant for sustaining students’ motivation as well as for communicat
ing and clarifying instructional content. The evidence suggests that
more frequent communication is more likely to increase the retention of
distance learners.
Secure student feedback early and often. Both instructors and support
staff of distance programs should secure feedback from students early
in their studies. Some feedback can be obtained through one-on-one
conversations (often by phone or e-mail), and some can be secured
through brief feedback forms supplied online or at the end of an ITV
class session. Collecting this information sends a message to the stu

dents that the instructor and institution are concerned about their
learning, and it also provides the instructor or staff member with infor
mation useful both for assisting individual students and for making
program adjustments. Early feedback is especially helpful. Chyung,
Winiecki, and Fenner (1998) found that satisfaction during the first or
second courses was the major factor that decided whether adult dis
tance students continued with their program of studies.
Help students learn to use the technology. McElhinney and Nasseh

(1998-1999) identify four challenges for students in online courses: (a)
mastering computer-based pedagogy, (b) mastering the skills of learn
ing from computers, (c) mastering the content they intend to learn, and
(d) mastering the skills required to communicate evidence of their
learning to faculty members. Although faculty new to distance instruc
tion may tend to focus mainly on the third and fourth skills, learning
must occur in all four areas for a student to do well in Web-based learn
ing. Particularly with students new to online learning or to the Web
itself, it is important for the instructor to spend time with students
introducing the technology and giving examples of how it can best be
used. Many institutions also provide a Web site tutorial to guide stu
dents step-by-step in how best to use the various options and features
of instructional Web sites. (For an example of such a tutorial for WebCT,
see the University of Minnesota Module Zero.1) As we suggested in
Chapter 7, setting up a help line will assist students with troubles they
encounter in accessing or using Web sites.
Extend counseling services to distance students. Most institutions pro

vide residential students with counseling for personal difficulties inter
fering with their studies. Distance students also may need these ser
vices, and having counseling available may prevent these students
from dropping out. A problem is how best to deliver counseling ser
vices because coming to a campus counseling office is sometimes just
not feasible. Some institutions with distance programs provide no
alternative to the campus office, but others are increasingly establish
ing telephone lines for this purpose. Although telephone counseling
does not enable the full range of visual and auditory communication, it
can still be of great help to many students. In a survey of institutions
within the service area of the Western Interstate Commission for
Higher Education (WICHE), Dirr (1999) found that only 44% of the
institutions offered personal counseling services to distance learners.
Of those, most offered counseling through a toll-free telephone num
ber. A few institutions with distance programs contract for counseling
services with local community agencies, but this is still rare, probably
both because of fiscal reasons and because students in many distance
programs are dispersed across wide geographic areas. Dirr found that
only 2% of the institutions provided online counseling services and
only 5% had established cooperative agreements with community pro
viders. Students, however, can also be encouraged to use sources of
support and counseling in their home communities, and the institution
can help in some cases by making a referral to local community
resources.
Build community among the participants in a distance course. Building

community means creating opportunities for students to interact with
other students in the course, to exchange ideas, to learn from other stu
dents’ views, and to identify with other students as fellow class mem
bers. Chat rooms and electronic bulletin boards can help to create com
munity in distance courses by facilitating students’ exchanges of ideas
(McCollum, 1997). Courses that enable students to do so are likely to
have fewer students dropping out than courses in which almost the
only interactions are those between student and instructor. In the latter
case, there are fewer ties holding the students’ interest in the course and
sustaining the students’ motivation. Moreover, building community
enhances students’ learning. There is considerable evidence that com
bining participatory and collaborative instructional techniques with
presentation of content results in as much or more learning than pre
sentation of content only (Boling & Robinson, 1999; Johnson, Johnson,
& Smith, 1991; Schwitzer & Lovell, 1999).
It is also good to have variety in the instructional format. Well-cho
sen exercises and assignments can thus help to both retain students’ in
terest and motivation and increase the learning that occurs. An exam
ple of an online community-building exercise that accomplishes both is
the “Murder on the Internet” exercise created by Terri Nelson and Wal
ter Oliver at California State University at San Bernardino for interme
diate college-level classes in French and Spanish.2 The game requires
students to solve a murder mystery. It is played in four rounds, each
lasting approximately 2 weeks. Various resources are distributed on the
Internet, such as diary entries, wills, newspaper articles, police reports,

and maps. The game teaches linguistic and critical thinking skills by re
quiring students to intensively communicate with each other via the
Internet to solve the murder. Students’ vocabularies and grammar
skills are built by requiring them to communicate with each other only
in the language under study and by requiring final projects that com
pile evidence and reach a conclusion. Evidently, students in these
courses have been quite enthusiastic about the exercise and the amount
they learned. They requested that the game be moved from a supple
mentary position to a main course activity. Course attendance also in
creased, and more students decided to do a major or minor in the lan
guage than had previously been the case.
Improvements in distance education technology are also facilitat
ing community building. Utah State University, for example, uses a
teleconferencing system that delivers both voice and video via the
Internet. This technology allows face-to-face interaction among stu
dents and between students and university personnel in various learn
ing and support situations, such as advising and mentoring students,
conducting study group sessions, delivering didactic courses, super
vising practical courses, and training local cooperating teachers
(Menlove, Hansford, & Lignugaris-Kraft, 2000).
Summary Tips
Retention of students is a problem for both residential and distance

education programs. For distance programs, we observed that student
characteristics, instructor characteristics, support services, and the
nature of distance education probably all contribute to some extent to
student dropout. Although some attrition of distance learners is proba
bly inevitable, programs can implement strategies to reduce student
dropout so that more students complete their studies, including the
following:
• Carefully assessing students’ needs

• Investing resources in preenrollment counseling
• Treating each student as an individual
• Responding quickly to students’ communications

• Initiating communication with students
• Securing early student feedback and using it for course and program
improvement
• Extending personal counseling services to students

• Building community among students, faculty, and staff
In combination, these strategies should increase students’ motivation

to persist in their studies and thereby increase the rate of course and
program completion.
Our companion Web site has additional references on student re

tention and factors affecting completion rates. There are also links to
exemplary Web pages helping students determine if distance educa
tion is a good fit to their needs and learning styles. Other links connect
with tips and resources for maintaining effective communication with
distance students and examples of innovative techniques for building
community among distance learners.
Notes
1. www3.extension.umn.edu/media/module0/
2. http://flan.csusb.edu/dept/vu_info/mmclass.htm
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9
Assessing Learning Outcomes
A ssessment serves valuable purposes for both instruc

tors and students. It provides students with appropriate, focused, and
timely feedback to promote learning, keeps them informed regarding
the progress they are making, and helps determine the extent to which
they have achieved the outcomes of the course as a whole. For instruc
tors, assessment is a good vehicle for communicating their goals to stu
dents so that they can learn more effectively, a means of identifying stu
dent misunderstandings and difficulties to guide instruction, and a
source of information needed to assign student grades. In addition,
assessment can deepen instructors’ understanding of how students
learn, thereby enhancing their competence to offer distance courses.
Distance education programs use a large variety of strategies to as
sist learners in achieving intended outcomes and to assess their prog
ress. Learning outcomes are assessed in ways that are relevant to the
program content, characteristics and situation of the learner, and the
delivery system. Although assessment may be conducted to make
judgments about an individual student, a given course, or an entire
153
program, our discussion in this chapter will focus on procedures that

measure or describe performance of individual students. In Chapter 10,
we will shift our focus from individuals to courses or programs and
will discuss methods used to answer questions regarding their opera
tions, their effectiveness, and their efficiency.
Assessment in distance learning is both similar to and different
from that used in on-campus programs. Because many useful resources
are available for assessment in on-campus courses, this chapter focuses
on aspects of assessment that are especially relevant for distance educa
tion courses. In these courses, assessment and measurement of student
learning become even more critical in the absence of face-to-face inter
actions that enable instructors to use informal observations to gauge
student response to instruction, to provide feedback on a regular basis,
and to monitor student progress toward stated goals and objectives.
Thus, instructors can use a variety of assessment approaches to moni
tor each learner’s progress and to provide customized feedback to the
learner at various points during the course. Accommodation of the spe
cial needs, characteristics, and situations of each learner becomes an
important challenge for distance education instructors.
Although it is beneficial to conduct assessment throughout the
course, this must be balanced against the instructor’s workload and
available time. As we noted in our discussion of good practices (Chap
ter 3), instructors need to plan carefully the number and the nature of
assessment strategies that they will use, the level of detail that they will
include in the feedback they provide, and the time between the assess
ments submitted by the learners. Students also appreciate having this
information as a part of the course syllabus because this helps them
plot their workloads at different points in the course. As we have em
phasized throughout the book, distance education instructors must
plan ahead, be highly creative and organized, and communicate with
learners in new ways.
Guiding Principles
Before discussing the specific approaches to evaluating student per

formance, it is appropriate to outline principles guiding student assess
Assessing Learning Outcomes 155
ment and mention some representative practices that provide specific

examples of how a given principle might be implemented. Some of
these principles and practices are not limited to distance education
courses; many of them apply to on-campus courses as well, reflecting
the premise that “good assessment is good assessment,” regardless of
whether the focus is on-campus or distance learning (Ragan, 1998).
Principle 1: Assessment instruments and activities should match

the goals and objectives of the course.
Effective assessment begins with clear goals. Before teachers can

assess how well the students are learning, they must identify and clar
ify outcomes that they want their students to achieve. The learning out
comes should be described in observable, measurable, and achievable
terms; the learning design should be consistent with and shaped to
help students achieve the intended outcomes; and assessment proce
dures should measure learner progress by reference to these outcomes
(American Council on Education, 1996).
Several outcomes taxonomies are available to help conceptualize
the outcomes for a course. The taxonomy of educational objectives
developed by Bloom and his associates (1956) classifies outcomes rela
tive to knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis,
and evaluation. A simple yet useful general typology has been devel
oped by Ewell (1987), who suggests four basic dimensions of outcomes:
(a) knowledge (both breadth and depth) outcomes; (b) skill outcomes
(including basic, higher-order, and career-related skills); (c) attitudes
and values outcomes; and (d) behavioral outcomes. One of these or
similar taxonomies will help teachers organize the learning activities,
select the media and the delivery system, design the assessment pro
cedures, monitor students’ progress, and assess their achievement in
the course.
Learners appreciate having assessment and measurement strate
gies clearly communicated at the start of the course. Indeed, it is only
fair to clearly state the nature, duration, due date, and impact on course
grade of all assessment methods used in the course. Given the wide
range of differences in characteristics, life experiences, and employ
ment settings of learners enrolled in distance courses, it is useful to pro
vide assessment options that capitalize on their unique characteristics
and situations. For example, students can be given the option of con
ducting an applied project that helps them achieve the selected out
comes of the course and at the same time allows them to make a signifi
cant contribution in their place of employment.
In a distance learning course on social science research methods
that one of us offers, students design and administer a questionnaire in
an area of their interest, conduct the analysis of data they collect, and
prepare a written report. This engages students in active learning, stim
ulates them to draw on their existing knowledge and understanding,
helps them develop new skills of inquiry and interpretation, and al
lows them to make a worthwhile contribution in their work setting.
Principle 2: Assessment strategies should be an integral part of

students’ learning experience.
Assessment is more than a means of assigning grades. It is also an

aid to facilitating learning for teachers as well as students. An impor
tant implication of this perspective has to do with designing and using
assessment methods that are embedded in the curriculum and are,
therefore, administered on a continuing basis. This approach may in
clude (a) self-check quizzes presented online, in print materials, and in
videotaped presentations; (b) comprehension tests included at the ends
of sections within a topic area; and (c) application exercises, case stud
ies, or simulations that are embedded at various points in the instruc
tional materials and invite the learners to apply their newly acquired
knowledge and understandings.
Available technology such as WebCT, Blackboard, and WebAssign
can be used creatively to administer the assessment measures and pro
vide immediate feedback to learners, thus creating milestones of ac
complishment that help the learners grow toward the expected out
comes. Providing learners with continuing opportunities to monitor
their learning and to assess if the assigned learning activity is working
has the potential to stimulate learner-to-learner and learner-to-teacher
interactions. In addition, technology such as WebCT and Blackboard
can also provide learners with remedial loops and enrichment materi
als on a personalized basis. Depending on one’s teaching philosophy,
data from curriculum-embedded assessment may be used as a small
contribution toward course grades as well.
In short, assessment should occur continuously. Students appreci

ate using such assessments to gauge their progress in the comfort of
privacy. It allows them to monitor if they are learning effectively, pro
vides feedback to confirm their understanding and to correct their mis
understandings, sustains their motivation to continue learning, and
gives them continuing opportunities to practice self-assessment.
Principle 3: A variety of technologies and media should be

considered to administer the assessment instruments and to
obtain students’ responses.
In Chapter 6, we discussed selecting appropriate technologies to

facilitate student learning and to make distance education courses
widely accessible. The technologies used to assess student learning are
related to the delivery system(s) chosen. This, of course, is also related
to what technology is available to students enrolled in the course. For a
given technology, a range of options is available to administer assess
ment measures. For example, if all the students have access to comput
ers, fax, and videotape players, how can each of those technologies be
effectively used to administer various types of assessments? Further
more, each of these technologies can be used in a number of ways. For
example, a course bulletin board may be used for posting course as
signments and discussion questions. Electronic mail and fax may be
used to receive students’ assignments and to provide them with indi
vidualized feedback in return. We also have used e-mail to communi
cate the grades that students have received on a proctor-administered
exam and to provide students with comments related to the assign
ments they have submitted and the exams they have taken. One of our
colleagues has used videotapes to assess students’ oral presentations
and counseling skills at several points during the course or in the pro
gram as a whole. Similarly, the telephone can be used to assess stu
dents’ pronunciation in foreign language courses and to provide them
with feedback.
Several media should be considered to assess student learning be
cause each is effective for different purposes. For example, e-mail al
lows students to describe subjects, online chats or telephone interviews
may work well to discuss the given topic, and video recordings may be
used to demonstrate oral presentation skills or nonverbal interactions.
Principle 4: The integrity of assessment must be ensured.
Although security remains a concern in all courses and programs,

this is especially true in distance education. Is the student actually do
ing the work? Is the work being done under the conditions specified by
the instructor? One possible approach to ensure adequate security is to
reduce the need and desire to cheat. This approach implies getting to
know the learner better and creating a desirable, exciting learning envi
ronment wherein the learner wants and is able to achieve course out
comes without feeling the need to cheat (Hudspeth, 1999). Having
learner-instructor discussions regarding the expected outcomes, their
relevance, and the means for achieving them creates an atmosphere in
which the learner becomes even more interested than the instructor in
using multiple methods that effectively assess and document the prog
ress toward and achievement of specified outcomes. Indeed, in such
circumstances, a traditional multiple-choice or essay final exam may
not be appropriate. Under some circumstances, however, it may still be
necessary to ensure integrity by incorporating appropriate safeguards
for protecting assessment instruments, and when required, proctoring
exams. One of us has successfully used proctors in students’ home
communities to administer the exams under the specified conditions;
the completed tests are mailed directly to the instructor by the proctor
in the return envelope provided for this purpose. We recommend using
equivalent forms of exams generated from item banks to minimize the
likelihood of cheating during test administration.
Given the widespread availability of class notes and course-related
material on the World Wide Web,1 it is critical to pay special attention to
potential plagiarism as well (Gibelman, Gelman, & Fast, 1999). We offer
the following suggestions to prevent plagiarism: (a) Create assign
ments that are judged by the learners to be relevant to the outcomes
they perceive as useful and desirable; (b) make sure that the suggested
resources have been assessed for availability, currency, and usability;
(c) provide feedback on the assignment outline before students start
working on the assignment itself; and (d) make unexpected phone calls
to discuss a point further or to ask the student how he or she found
some piece of information.
As we noted in Chapter 4, the course syllabus should include a pol
icy regarding cheating and plagiarism. Explaining what plagiarism is
and indicating that it is a serious offense may not only prevent the na
ive student from committing unintentional plagiarism but also deter

the intentional plagiarists. Students should be advised that the instruc
tor plans to do random checks for plagiarism by using technology
available for this purpose (for example, www.plagiarism.org/). In
other words, although technology provides students new and easier
ways to cheat, it also offers the instructors easier ways to catch cheaters.
Principle 5: The quality of the assessment process should be

monitored.
However good we are at assessing student learning, we also learn

from assessing the assessment, monitoring its effectiveness, and keep
ing a watch on what works and what does not. Such monitoring in
cludes (a) checking the assessment methods for internal validity and
reliability, (b) ensuring that the methods are appropriate in a distance
learning environment, and (c) determining whether all the assessment
methods are really necessary and whether it is possible to combine
some of them or delete others.
What approaches can be used to monitor the quality of the assess
ment processes? Although the effectiveness of monitoring approaches
may depend on the course, its delivery system, and the assessment pro
cedures, here are some strategies that we have found helpful.
Keep notes from year to year. These notes may include information
regarding the timing of assessment, difficulties of interpretation, and
the time it took to examine students’ work and to provide feedback.
These notes can be used to design better assessment tools when the
course is next offered.
Invite students to give feedback on the quality of assessment. This may

include asking students questions such as “Am I giving you enough
feedback?” “Does this exercise promote learning?” “Are graded as
signments returned fast enough for you?” “In what ways can I improve
the assessment processes?” “How clear are the instructions for differ
ent assignments?” Such feedback can be (and probably should be)
secured throughout the course, not just at the end.
Examine student performance data on various elements of assessment.

Such data can be used to identify areas in which students generally
showed strengths and weaknesses. This information may be helpful in

making adjustments in instructional design as well as in the assessment
procedures.
Use postcourse assessment instruments. This approach is useful in

obtaining student input regarding instructional design, delivery sys
tem, and assessment methods. Although this information becomes
available at the end of the course, it still can be useful for making
changes when the course is next offered.
It is also good to do an end-of-the-course reflection on what the in
structor wanted the students to learn and to what degree the assess
ment procedures helped determine the extent to which the students
achieved the intended outcomes. Appropriately designed course eval
uations from students also provide valuable information in this regard.
Methods of Assessment
As we have emphasized throughout the chapter, an effective assess

ment design includes multiple measures taken through time. Em
ploying a wide range of assessment methods allows students to do
their best on measures that match their styles, strengths, and prefer
ences and minimizes the likelihood of penalizing students who happen
to be weak in responding to one or two forms of assessment. An addi
tional factor contributing to the design of assessment methods con
cerns their purpose: Methods to provide diagnostic feedback are differ
ent from those designed to determine end-of-course achievement of
intended outcomes. In contrast to assessment conducted at the end of
the course, methods used to provide diagnostic feedback have a more
narrowly defined focus, concentrating on highly specific content
knowledge or skills. They are generally designed to provide an analysis
of learners’ particular strengths and weaknesses, to suggest causes for
their difficulties, and to offer recommendations regarding instructional
needs and available resources.
This section presents selected approaches relevant for assessing
learning outcomes in distance courses. This presentation builds on the
good practices in distance education outlined in Chapter 3. Indeed, ef
fective assessment methods should enhance student learning and, at
the same time, provide the instructors with information they need to
monitor and grade student progress.
Group Discussions
Learning is an active process. As we commented in Chapter 3,

many instructors use technology to help students move from a passive
to an active mode of learning. Engaging students in discussing the key
topics or issues on a weekly basis enhances their learning and keeps
them feeling connected with each other and with the instructor. In a
Web-based course on aging and diversity that one of us offers, all stu
dents are required to participate in asynchronous discussion each
week. Of the total course grade, 30% depends on students’ contribution
to the questions or the activity the instructor posts in the course confer
ence area each week. The instructor monitors the group discussion, re
views the themes that surface, and notes the misconceptions and the
difficulties that students may have with regard to a given topic. In addi
tion, with the help of available technology, the instructor also tracks
who participates in the discussion and who does not. At the end of the
week, the instructor brings closure to the discussion by synthesizing
the key points presented by the students and by providing clarification
or explanation in areas in which students may have experienced
difficulty.
In short, networked discussion groups draw together students
from different backgrounds and settings; engage them in energetic,
productive conversations; allow students to maintain contact with the
instructor and classmates; and provide the teacher with a documented
record of the quality of each student’s contribution, which may be used
for assessment purposes. Such discussions stimulate students to think
about what they have read and heard and to share their reactions with
out worrying about interrupting others.
The Student Log or Journal
Asking students to keep a log or journal engages them in self-re

flection and self-evaluation, stimulates them to think about what they
have read and experienced, and gives them additional practice in writ
ing. The purpose of such writing is not for the students to summarize
what they are reading but to note their reactions, questions, comments,
criticisms, and insights. Research evidence indicates that journals, as

well as other writing, produce gains in learning, thinking, and motiva
tion (Hettich, 1990).
Many instructors do not grade journals, given the personal nature
of the writing and the variability in the content that students focus on,
how they connect the writing with experiences outside the course, and
the level of details they decide to provide. Instead, the instructor may
allocate a specific number of points for merely writing the journal.
Keeping a journal for a given course or an entire program provides stu
dents with concrete evidence regarding the gains they have achieved in
their quality of thinking and writing. It is reasonable to assume that the
active observation, self-reflection, and self-assessment carry over to
other courses and work life. As we had indicated in our discussion of
diagnostic learning logs in Chapter 3, student journals can provide the
instructor with valuable insights and suggestions for improving in
structional delivery. Instructors should make clear whether they will
read the journal simply to verify that it was done or to assess quality of
the reflection.
Because student logs are essentially another continuing assign
ment that requires time and effort from students and teachers, it is im
portant to consider how their use complements other assessment meth
ods employed in the course. Do the journals add a component that is
significantly different from other parts of the assessment, or do they
duplicate what is already being accomplished by other means of pro
moting self-reflection and self-assessment? In addition, consider how
writing journals on a regular basis may help students achieve the out
comes envisioned for the course or the program.
Term Papers
Term papers provide students with opportunities to apply princi

ples and generalizations from the course to new problems and situa
tions, to synthesize and integrate information and ideas, to explore
problems or to focus on areas of special significance to them, and to im
prove writing skills. Simply writing a paper and getting a letter grade
at the end of the course, however, are not enough. Instead, students’
learning is enhanced when (a) they write several short papers spread
throughout the term rather than one long paper at the end of the term;
(b) they prepare a prospectus outlining what they want to focus on and
how they plan to proceed; (c) they receive instructor analysis and feed
back on the prospectus before they start working on the paper itself;
and (d) they receive both the letter grade and instructor comments on
the paper in a timely manner. Students can submit the prospectus elec
tronically as a word processor file to the instructor. In turn, the teacher
can provide comments and suggestions within the same file electroni
cally and can answer questions the student may have as a result of de
veloping the prospectus.
Our experience indicates that students like preparing shorter pa
pers spread through time because this allows them to synthesize and
integrate manageable chunks of information and ideas, gives them an
opportunity to interact with the instructor at several points in the
course, and gives them an indication of the progress they are making in
achieving the course outcomes. Given the high level of anxiety many
students experience regarding their final course grade, obtaining in
structor feedback and marks on several short papers is less terrifying
than waiting to receive a grade after writing one long paper at the end
of the course. Another technique is to have students prepare short as
signments or submit their work in installments, which are then inte
grated into a final paper at the end of the course. For example, different
subtopics can be treated independently in short papers but then inter
connected in the final term paper.
All students, especially distance learning students, appreciate re
ceiving clear and detailed instructions regarding the paper(s) they are
required to write. They like to know how much freedom they have with
regard to the topic, form, content, purpose, and the like. They also like
to know what style (APA, University of Chicago, Modern Language
Association, etc.) they should use to provide citations and to write ref
erences. In addition, and perhaps more important, they appreciate
knowing what criteria will be used to evaluate their papers and assign
grades. Thus, instructors should develop guidelines that provide stu
dents with the information and structure they need to complete an as
signment. Including clear instructions and timelines in the course sylla
bus also helps instructors communicate the expectations they have for
the students who enroll in the course.
We have found that students benefit from developing a prospectus
(or first draft) and receiving timely feedback before they begin substan
tial work on their papers. If this two-phase approach is used, instruc

tors should provide students with specific directions for preparing the
prospectus as well. Angelo and Cross (1993) have outlined the prompts
that may be adapted to help students develop a prospectus for a paper.
Distance students should be encouraged to include in the prospectus
specific questions and concerns they would like addressed by the in
structor. In addition to providing feedback on each student’s prospec
tus, the instructor may also disseminate a summary list of suggestions
based on all the drafts reviewed. This approach will help achieve con
siderable efficiency by minimizing the need of repeating similar com
ments to each learner. Preparing such a summary may also help in
making modifications and revisions in the paper and/or prospectus
guidelines for the next offering of the course.
Student Portfolios
Because distance education has the potential to accommodate the

special needs, characteristics, and situations of each learner, portfolios
present a useful assessment technique in documenting a learner’s de
velopment throughout the course. Although there are many types of
portfolios, each is a purposeful presentation of the work produced by a
single learner through time. Well-conceived portfolios include samples
representing both work in progress and showpiece samples and the
students’ reflections about their work and a discussion of how well it
demonstrates progress toward and/or achievement of course out
comes. For example, to demonstrate the progress the learner has made,
a portfolio might include the initial draft, a revision, and the final form
of an assignment. Of course, technology has made it convenient for
both learners and instructors to keep their work on file and assemble it
for a purposeful presentation.
An important element of portfolios is the learners’ explanations of
their work in relation to the course outcomes and self-assessments of
the progress achieved. Thus, this technique allows students to reflect
on the development of their self-evaluative skills and promotes in
creased self-awareness. This, in turn, helps the instructors assess the ex
tent to which students are able to make connections between their work
and course outcomes. Looking at the progress they have made with re
gard to specified outcomes also has the potential to strengthen stu
dents’ commitment to personal achievement.
In a master’s program in education offered via distance learning

at The College of St. Scholastica, all students develop portfolios as a
part of their capstone experience. They are provided the following
instructions:
Format. You may submit portfolios which are paper or electronic, in

whatever form you prefer (e.g., folder, binder). The possibilities are
truly endless. Please be sure to include a table of contents, so that we
don’t lose our way in examining it. Remember each portfolio will be
unique!
Content. Review all course work you have completed, reflecting on
your personal growth throughout the master’s program. Develop a
brief (not more than five pages) statement of personal growth, then in
some way support the claims of growth you have made. This support
may include written documentation or actual work samples or pho
tos. Be as individual as you wish on this. Also include a professional
plan for your continued growth and reflection. This might include
topics you would like to explore, strategies you wish to implement,
and the goals you would like to achieve.
In addition to the previous instructions for preparing a portfolio,

the course syllabus includes the criteria to be used in assessing it. These
criteria focus on (a) final statement of personal growth, (b) support for
the final statement, and (c) projection of future growth.
Portfolios can also be used in conjunction with a learning contract
defining what the instructor has proposed and what the learner has
agreed to do. Although the written agreement clearly describes the out
comes to be demonstrated by the learner, it provides considerable flexi
bility regarding the means and methods that the learner may use to
achieve them. Considering the large variety of learning resources avail
able via the Internet and other media, it is unlikely that different learn
ers will use the same resources and same methods to achieve the given
outcomes. Therefore, it is even more important for students to explain
how the pieces in their portfolios respond to the key topics and ques
tions that the instructor included in the syllabus and to demonstrate
how they made progress in achieving the stated outcomes.
Because students may have limited experience in developing a
portfolio, we offer the following suggestions:
1. Provide learners with clearly stated guidelines or rules regarding port

folio content or form.
2. Provide instructions on format and length when asking students to

write their commentary on the significance of the pieces they decide to
include in the portfolio.
3. Offer ungraded feedback on the prospectus or the outline that students

develop before they do substantive work on the portfolio.
4. Link the portfolio with other graded assignments (such as papers and
project reports) included in the course.
5. Allow learners to use images, graphics, and tables, rather than prose
alone. Students might include audiotapes, videotapes, and other arti
facts along with the written narrative.
6. Clearly indicate the amount of course credit to be offered for the

portfolio.
7. Alert students early in the course that substantial time is needed to pre
pare a portfolio.
8. Provide students the criteria that will be used in assessing their

portfolios.
Tests
We have already indicated our belief that traditional forms of test

ing (multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blank, true-false, etc.) may be inappro
priate tools for determining grades in a distance instruction program.
Some testing methods, however, may be appropriate as an integral part
of instructional design. They may be used to engage students in active
learning, to help maintain their interest, and to give them opportunities
to assess their own learning throughout the course. As we discuss in
Chapter 10, such exams may also be necessary to establish equivalency
with on-campus versions of the distance course. In addition, tests may
also provide students with the experience they need to perform well in
taking online professional exams after graduating from the distance
program. One good example of using multiple-choice tests to stimu
late student thinking is provided by Just-in-Time Teaching (Novak,
Patterson, Gavrin, & Christian, 1999), a technique whereby students
take multiple-choice tests before each class meeting. The test results
alert students and their instructors to misconceptions and gaps in the

learners’ knowledge and understanding and help focus the discussion
that will take place in a given class session. Such use of multiple-choice
tests can also be adapted to distance learning programs: Students first
are given a small number of test items to take and then are provided
with the answer key as a part of the instructional package. Our experi
ence indicates that such an approach works well both in Web-based
and in video-based distance education courses.
Another version of these diagnostic tools is a self-administered test
taken immediately after the learners have completed the given module
to determine mastery of the material. Available technology such as
WebCT then is used to evaluate students’ responses and determine
which module would best serve learner needs. In a way, this design of
instruction and assessment is similar to what has been traditionally
used in branched approaches to programmed learning that take into
account the individual differences in students’ ability to learn. Students
may advance to a more difficult section of the material, skipping some
modules, if they demonstrate mastery of the essentials of the topic at
hand. If the students’ mistakes indicate poor progress in learning the
material, they can be directed to a different presentation of the same
material for remedial assistance. The key point is that such an approach
uses modular tests to assess students’ mastery of the essentials and
uses the information to direct the learners to the next module. All this,
of course, is done with the help of available technology that records and
analyzes students’ responses automatically. Students receive immedi
ate feedback on their progress and reinforcement for displaying mas
tery of the material.
If an end-of-course exam will be used to determine the extent to
which students have achieved the outcomes envisioned for the course,
we recommend using a mix of different types of questions to balance
measurement of the intended outcomes. Such a mix could include
problems, short-answer items, and essay topics. Designing several
forms of the test helps ensure security of the test material and mini
mizes the likelihood of cheating during the exam. As we suggested
in an earlier section of the chapter, students could be asked to identify
local people (college personnel, clergy, or high school teachers) who
can proctor exams; then the tests could be sent directly to the proctors
with guidelines for administering and returning the tests. Although
this approach has worked well for us, we recognize that it may be im
practical for some programs if large numbers of proctors are needed or
if reimbursement for proctors is required.
If objective tests (multiple-choice, true-false, and matching items)
are to be used, commercially available software can generate multiple
equivalent forms of an exam from a bank of questions the instructor has
written. The software can scramble the order of questions or select a
different group of items that assess the same outcomes. Another possi
bility is to use computer-adaptive testing (CAT), an approach currently
used by the Educational Testing Service to administer admission tests
such as the Graduate Record Examination and the Graduate Manage
ment Admissions Test. Typically, a CAT begins with medium difficulty
questions but then tailors itself to each student’s achievement level.
Students who give correct answers are automatically given more diffi
cult questions; conversely, incorrect answers beget easier questions. Be
cause CAT individualizes the test items that a student is asked to an
swer, this approach minimizes the possibility of cheating. At the
present time, however, CAT requires considerable technical support in
assembling the item pool.
Conclusion
Distance learning programs attract students who differ significantly

from each other in their learning styles, pace of learning, work experi
ences, and assessment preferences. Consequently, it is equally essential
to provide students with choices in tasks (not all reading and writing)
and options for demonstrating mastery or competence, to allow them
time to contemplate and complete the assignments, and to offer them
opportunities for revision and rethinking. Educators should avoid
overusing timed exams. Students are likely to do better when they
know the course goals, see models and examples of “good work,” and
know how their performance compares with the acceptable standards.
Integrating assessment with instruction allows students to see the con
nection between their efforts and results and keeps them motivated to
do well. Students will bring their rich life experience to the course; they
appreciate opportunities to relate what they have recently learned to
their personal experiences, prior knowledge, and new situations.
Summary Tips
• Use assessment instruments and activities that are congruent with the
goals and objectives of the course.
• Clearly communicate the nature, duration, due date, and impact on the
course grade of all planned assessment methods.
• Provide students with self-assessment opportunities by integrating as

sessment with instruction.
• Employ a variety of technologies and media to administer assessment

instruments, to obtain students’ responses, and to maintain needed
records.
• Create an environment that makes the learning process so desirable

and exciting that the students want to achieve the course outcomes
without the need to cheat.
• Include in the course syllabus a policy regarding cheating and plagia

rism.
• Develop proper safeguards for protecting assessment instruments and,

when required, proctoring of exams.
• Design and use assessment methods that are perceived by the learners
to be relevant to the stated outcomes.
• Monitor the assessment process by obtaining student input, examining

student performance data, and keeping notes about how the assess
ment methods are working.
• Employ a wide range of assessment methods allowing students to do

their best on the measures that match their styles, strengths, and prefer
ences.
• Promote student-content, student-teacher, and student-student inter

action through networked discussion groups, and use the record of stu
dents’ participation and contribution for assessment purposes.
• Engage students in self-reflection and self-evaluation by asking them

to keep a log or journal outlining their reactions, questions, comments,
criticisms, and insights related to what they are experiencing in the
course.
• Ask students to write several short papers spread throughout the

course rather than one long paper at the end of the course.
• Provide students with clear and detailed instructions regarding the pa
pers, projects, and portfolios required for the course.
• Offer individualized feedback to students on the outlines they develop

for their papers before they start substantive work on the papers them
selves.
• Invite students to develop portfolios to document their development

with regard to the learning outcomes for the course or program.
• Make sure that the amount of assessment is appropriate; students’

learning should not be impeded by an overload of assessing require
ments, nor should the quality of teaching be impaired by excessive bur
dens of assessment-related tasks.
• Use a course evaluation form to obtain students’ reactions to various

aspects of the course.
Our companion Web site includes specific examples of methods

that we have found useful for assessing student learning in distance ed
ucation courses. In addition, we include links to electronic resources
pertaining to assessment of students’ knowledge, skills, and attitudes.
Note
1. www.collegeclub.com/micro/versity/main.asp?id=, www.
askanexpert.com, and www.webmath.com
References
American Council on Education. (1996). Distance learning evaluation guide.

Washington, DC: Author.
Angelo, T. A., & Cross, K. P. (1993). Classroom assessment techniques: A handbook
for college teachers (2nd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Bloom, B. S. (Ed.) and others. (1956). Taxonomy of educational objectives: The clas
sification of educational goals: Handbook I. Cognitive domain. New York:
Longmans, Green.
Ewell, P. (1987). Establishing a campus-based program assessment. In D. F.
Halpern (Ed.), Student outcomes assessment: What institutions stand to gain
(New Directions for Higher Education, No. 59, pp. 9-24). San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass.
Gibelman, M., Gelman, S., & Fast, J. (1999, Fall). The downside of cyberspace:
Cheating made easy. Journal of Social Work Education, 35(3), 367-376.
Hettich, P. (1990). Journal writing: Old fare or nouvelle cuisine? Teaching of Psy
chology, 17, 36-39.
Hudspeth, D. (1999). Testing learner outcomes in Web-based instruction. In
B. H. Khan (Ed.), Web-based instruction (pp. 353-356). Englewood Cliffs,
NJ: Educational Technology.
Novak, G. M., Patterson, E. T., Gavrin, A. D., & Christian, W. (1999). Just-in-time
teaching: Blending active learning with Web technology. Upper Saddle River,
NJ: Prentice Hall.
Ragan, L. C. (1998). Good teaching is good teaching: An emerging set of guid
ing principles and practices for the design and development of distance
education [Online]. DEOSNEWS, 8(12). Retrieved April 2, 2001, from the
World Wide Web: www.ed.psu.edu/ACSDE
10
Program Evaluation
I n Chapter 9, we focused on assessing the performance of

individual students to create a picture of their learning that they can use
to improve their performance and that the institution can use to docu
ment their achievement. We now go from the individual level to the
course or program level, where information from individuals is aggre
gated to summarize a group’s progress and to draw conclusions about a
program’s effectiveness. Here, group may refer to any of a wide variety of
student aggregations, such as at the course, group of courses, or pro
gram level, or to students grouped by sex, race/ethnicity, class year,
major, place of residence, delivery mode, and so on.
At any level of aggregation, the focus is on the program (or the
course) rather than on the individual learner, and the overarching goal
of this evaluation is to ensure the delivery of high-quality instruction to
the target population. Just as assessment of individual students leads to
improved learning by providing feedback and guidance at several
points, program evaluation contributes to improved instruction by
providing detailed feedback regarding input, processes, and outcomes
173
Figure 10.1. The I-P-O Model
to those who can make changes or programmatic decisions. In other

words, evaluation may be conducted to gauge program effectiveness
where it is intended to be (a) formative, facilitating program modifica
tion and enhancing the achievement of extended outcomes, and (b)
summative, providing information to support a judgement about the
program’s worth, so that a decision can be made about the merit of its
continuation.
Although there are many similarities between student assessment
and program evaluation, there are some important differences as well.
To help identify these differences, we have presented a conceptual
framework in Figure 10.1.
Program evaluation is incomplete unless it includes information
on program inputs, learning processes, and student outcomes.
• Inputs refer to characteristics of the learners and the instructional

methods.
• Processes represent what the learners actually do during the course or

the program.
• Outcomes refer to the impacts of what learners did.
As we remarked earlier, the focus in Chapter 9 was mainly on out

comes. Assessment of individual students’ outcomes allows instruc
Program Evaluation 175
tors to give them feedback and to document their achievement. In

program evaluation, we focus on each of the three boxes shown in
Figure 10.1 and how well they are functioning together.
In a distance learning program, inputs may refer to (a) students’ at
tributes such as their prior knowledge, experience, attitudes, level of
commitment, and self-motivation; and (b) program characteristics such
as instructional methods, technologies, library resources, and instruc
tional staff. Program processes represent activities such as (a) learners’
interaction with the content, the instructor, and other learners; (b) how
often they work on the assignments, what they actually do, and what
feedback they receive and how they use it; and (c) what support ser
vices they use and how often they use them in areas such as library, in
struction, technology, advising, and counseling. Program outcomes re
fer to student achievement and attitudes, drop-out rates, completion
rates, and student satisfaction with the program. Traditionally, evalua
tion has focused on the relationship shown by Arrow B in Figure 10.1—
the effect of processes on outcome variables. Experience indicates,
however, that the relationship between processes and outcomes cannot
be understood without taking into account program inputs. Program
inputs (e.g., student characteristics, for example) may be related to both
outcomes (Arrow C) and processes (Arrow A). In other words, differ
ences among students tend to show some consistency through time
(Arrow C), and different types of students often select and use different
types of programs (distance learning, traditional on-campus classes)
and instructional strategies (Arrow A). That inputs are thus related to
both outputs and processes means that inputs can, in turn, affect the
observed relationship between the program processes and outputs
(Astin, 1991).
The key point is that the model presented in Figure 10.1 includes
the assessment not only of student learning but also of student and pro
gram characteristics and the learning processes. Thus, by looking at
inputs, processes, and outcomes, program evaluation leads to a better
understanding of why certain outcomes are not being achieved. Simply
examining outcomes of distance programs is not adequate. We should
focus on input and processes as well. Why? Because this approach
allows us to interpret outcome data, to help understand for whom the
program works and for whom it does not, and to make needed im
provements. In addition, input and process evaluation provides useful
information for dissemination of an effective program and its use by

others.
Evaluating Program Inputs
It is difficult, if not impossible, to ascertain how a distance learning pro

gram affects students’ outcomes in the absence of data regarding the
characteristics of the students and the learning design. Although the
most obvious use of student input data is as a pretest of student out
come measures, it can be used for other purposes as well. For example,
developing a profile of learner characteristics such as ethnicity, place of
residence, work experience, attitudes toward distance learning, and
self-motivation can be helpful in understanding the program’s recruit
ment and admissions efforts and in predicting achievement and satis
faction level of the learner. This information can also help identify fac
tors that may be affecting prospective students’ decisions to engage in
a distance learning program. In addition, information on attributes of
entering students may assist in tracking their progress, in monitoring
program implementation, and in conducting program review. Finally, a
comprehensive profile of the students entering a program provides ex
cellent material for use in public addresses by program officials and
press releases to local, regional, and national media.
Input data serve a wide range of purposes, but how are such data
collected? The following section presents some examples of methods
useful in collecting data on student attributes relevant for evaluating
distance programs.
The Application Form
Obtaining biographical information from the applicants has both

intuitive and intrinsic validity because it speaks directly to a central
measurement axiom, namely, what a person will do in the future is best
predicted from what he or she has done in the past. In distance educa
tion programs offered by The College of St. Scholastica, faculty have
found it useful to ask the interested learners to complete an application
form that includes a variety of questions focusing on demographic,
experiential, and attitudinal variables related to success in a distance
program. Applicants describe their educational experiences, work his

tory, computer-related skills, access to a library, work habits, manage
ment skills, attitude toward distance learning, and commitment to the
program.
Although it is important to review available research on student
characteristics correlated with success in distance programs (for exam
ple, Powell, Conway, & Ross, 1990), we suggest that a form be tailored
to obtain the needed information regarding the applicants interested in
a particular course or program. The variables that others have used
may serve as a starting point in designing an application form that can
provide the information specific to the program. It is beneficial to moni
tor how well the application form meets its intended purpose, what dif
ficulties are experienced by the applicants in completing various items,
and what changes will make the form easier to understand.
The Application Essay
Given the heavy emphasis on written assignments in many dis

tance programs, applicants may be invited to submit a two-page essay
on a topic related to the program content and delivery mode. In one
master of education program that uses videotapes, print materials, and
on-campus meetings, the program director asks each applicant to sub
mit an essay describing why he or she wants to enroll in the program,
what objectives the prospective student would like to achieve, and how
the program fits with the applicant’s career plans. Preliminary analysis
indicated that a careful review of the essays allows the admissions com
mittee to assess an applicant’s reasoning ability, writing skills, level of
motivation, and expectations of the program. Application essays also
have been useful in assessing the progress that students make as a
result of their participation in the program: Comparing their own writ
ing at several points in the program helps students perform a self-
assessment and enables them to pinpoint areas in which additional
work is needed.
In addition to the application forms and essays, data on students’
input are obtained by examining their grade records and by adminis
tering pretests directly related to the focus of the course. As we ob
served earlier, keeping pretest data on file to compare with posttest
data represents a common approach to assessing program effective
ness. Like other information from student input data, pretest results
may be helpful in developing a better understanding of factors corre

lated with student success in the program.
So far in this section, our discussion has focused on student charac
teristics. We now proceed to discuss program characteristics, which
also critically affect the outcomes of a given program.
Program Characteristics
In the broadest sense, program characteristics include everything

that may happen to students during the program and may conceivably
influence the outcomes under consideration. Because distance educa
tion programs vary considerably in areas such as intended outcomes,
learning design, technology delivery mode, and learner support, it is
essential to create a detailed description of program characteristics.
Identifying key characteristics helps the instructor conceptualize what
aspect of the program is intended to have an effect on student learning
and articulate how the program compares with the corresponding on-
campus program. Paying close attention to essential details helps the
evaluator understand what the program aims to achieve, its goals, how
it works, and what resources it uses. This information is later employed
to monitor the learning process, to understand the data, to interpret the
meaning of outcome data, to make recommendations, and to report the
evaluation findings. Information about the program is useful both for
current and future participants. For example, potential participants
would like to know what delivery mode will be used, what type of
computer will be needed (if any), what modes and level of interaction
with classmates and the instructors are anticipated, what assessment
procedures will be used, and what support will be available in areas
such as technology, library, advising, and counseling.
Perhaps the best approach to collecting information about program
characteristics is to carefully examine all the materials available regard
ing the course. Examples include print materials, such as a copy of the
college or program catalog, course syllabi, study guides, and textbooks
and readings; and electronic materials, such as program or course Web
sites, which may include information regarding the instructor(s) re
sponsible for the course, students enrolled in the course, the course bul
letin board or conference area, and procedures regarding lecture notes,
grade posting, and schedule changes.
If program evaluation is conducted by external evaluators, they

may find it beneficial to (a) conduct interviews with students and those
responsible for designing and offering the course, (b) compare the
course with selected similar courses offered in traditional or distance
programs, and (c) examine the course design with regard to its poten
tial to engage students in active learning and help them maintain con
tact with the instructor.
Because many evaluations contrast the effects of different formats
of distance learning and on-campus programs, it follows that data on
both student characteristics and program characteristics will be col
lected from all programs to be included for comparison. This means
that data collection methods used by the evaluators should have the
sensitivity to capture the key features of all programs under consider
ation and the specific characteristics of the students they serve. This in
formation will be useful in interpreting data on outcomes achieved in
each case and will help in identifying similarities and differences
among programs.
Program Processes
Labels are not programs. All distance education programs with the
same titles are not similar. Even when the course syllabi, the announced
outcomes, and the delivery mode look identical, courses may differ
from each other in how they are implemented. Simply stated, there is
no substitute for gathering actual data on what happens in each pro
gram and who does what and when. Thus, rather than taking program
titles and names at face value or looking at the course materials, it is es
sential to examine how the program actually operates. The goal of such
examination is to assess fidelity of the program to what was presented
in the catalog and/or the syllabus and to answer questions such as
these: What do the learners actually do? How often do they interact
with each other and why? What support services do they use and why?
How do the students experience and perceive various aspects of the
program? Thus, this phase of evaluation places an emphasis on looking
at how a product or outcome is produced, rather than simply looking at
the product or the outcome in isolation. Examining the process as well
as the outcomes provides an analysis of the ways a program produces

the results it achieves. Gathering data on what the instructors and the
learners actually did and how well they did it helps detect or predict
defects in the program design, the delivery system, and the instruc
tional materials; provides information for program decisions; and con
tributes to developing records of how the program actually operates.
The range of individual differences in the characteristics of stu
dents enrolled in distance programs (such as learning styles, self-study
skills, and motivation) should prompt the reviewer to focus on how in
dividuals learn, rather than describing only how groups learn. An im
portant way of monitoring the process through time is to establish a
management information system. This approach provides continuing
data in areas such as students’ characteristics, their frequency of par
ticipation in each of the activities, their use of library or other support
services, their reaction to program assignments, and program costs.
Although this approach to program monitoring has considerable po
tential, it is difficult to design a useful system for a given program and
ensure that it is actually used. Our experience with program evaluation
indicates that in comparison with outcome assessment, considerably
less attention has been given to process monitoring. Advances in com
puter technology and the availability of software such as WebCT and
Blackboard, however, cause us to believe that process evaluation can be
accomplished effectively and efficiently and that the evaluation results
can advance the process of understanding why students do well in cer
tain programs and not so well in others.
If the program is offered via ITV at one or more sites, structured ob
servation may be used to collect data about specific behaviors of the in
structors and the students. For example, classroom observers can at
tend a 50-minute class and record the number of times a given
instructor performed each of the behaviors related to good practices in
undergraduate education. For each site, the observers can record the
numbers of questions students raised, the number of students who be
came engaged in discussion, or any other observable behavior that is
relevant to the evaluation of the program under review. If the audio or
video recordings of the sessions become available, the evaluator can
view them at a later date and code them to capture the types of interac
tions that occurred, their order, their frequency, and so on.
Systematic observation is a valuable approach when the evaluation
needs to focus on areas such as specific behaviors, interactions, non
verbal communications, and classroom climate in one or more sites. It

may provide information about behavior patterns that may not be ob
tained by self-reporting, a management information system, or other
methods.
In the previous chapter, we included a description of student logs
or journals as an approach to assessing student learning and monitor
ing how they react to various aspects of the course. Aggregating such
information for a course or a program can provide unique insights into
program processes as experienced and understood by different seg
ments of the student population. Similarly, an analysis of the portfolios
developed by students enrolled in a given program can help evaluators
understand what students actually did, how they did it, what worked,
and what did not work.
Finally, information about program processes and the use of in
structional technologies can be obtained by designing student surveys
that focus on program elements such as learning design, objectives and
outcomes, materials, technologies, and support. Depending on the pur
pose, such surveys can be conducted for specific courses while stu
dents are enrolled in the program and for the program as a whole after
they have graduated. We have found that comments from program
alumni provide thoughtful perspectives that assist in making signifi
cant changes and adjustments in the program.
In summary, it is essential to use multiple methods to create a de
velopmental picture of how the program actually operates, how the
different technologies work together, what the instructors and learners
do at different points in the program, what learning resources they use,
and what difficulties they encounter and how they resolve them. Pre
paring such a detailed explanation of the learning process helps in
making program modifications and adjustments, in understanding
students’ progress in achieving the learning outcomes, and in dissemi
nating the program for widespread use. In the next section, we devote
our attention to a discussion of assessing program outcomes.
Assessing Outcomes
Of the three classes of evaluation variables presented in Figure 10.1,

outcomes are generally the most critical and important to students,
instructors, and administrators. In essence, outcomes refer to those

aspects of students’ development that the program does influence or
attempts to influence through instruction. Examples of program out
comes include student achievement, retention, and satisfaction. Be
cause the issue of cost or the effort required to achieve a given magni
tude of desired change is implicit in all outcome evaluations, we will
also include a discussion of relating costs to program results. This infor
mation informs decisions about allocation of resources, facilitates com
parisons between the distance program and a traditional on-campus
program, and helps garner support of administrators who determine
the fate of new programs and services.
Student Learning
In Chapter 9, we outlined guiding principles and methods useful

in assessing the performance of individual students. In conducting a
program evaluation, the data collected for individual students are
aggregated for a course, for a program, and for a delivery mode
depending on the nature of questions under investigation. A gentle
reminder: The purpose is to make conclusions about a given program, rather
than about an individual student. Because the program impact may not be
similar for each of the intended outcomes, we suggest that the analysis
be conducted separately for each outcome. Results of this analysis pro
vide diagnostic information about various aspects of the program and
may direct the instructor(s) to make changes and adjustments neces
sary to strengthen student learning. This information may be used to
review the learning outcomes, thereby ensuring their clarity, utility,
and appropriateness.
In addition to outcomes involving knowledge and skills, program
evaluation needs to include affective outcomes as well: students’ feel
ings, attitudes, values, beliefs, self-concepts, aspirations, and social
and interpersonal relationships. Although the number of these out
comes is large, techniques for their assessment are not as far advanced
as those for cognitive outcomes. Because distance instruction is often
criticized for not devoting adequate attention to the development of
affective outcomes, we suggest that such outcomes be included in
designing instructional strategies, in monitoring the program pro
cesses, and in assessing their effectiveness. At a minimum, outcome
assessment should include some self-administered questionnaires

and inventories that focus on student attitudes, values, and interper
sonal relationships and skills. Regardless of the procedures used to
assess how the distance program affects the learners, it is essential to
ensure that the procedures meet the requirements of reliability and
validity.
Student Retention
Concern about the drop-out rate in distance education (Merisotis,

1999) has prompted an increasing number of programs to use retention
rate as an outcome measure. This assumes that the information pro
vides an indication of the learners’ dissatisfaction with the program. It
also may indicate characteristics of the program that militate against
full participation. Finally, it may also indicate the lack of match be
tween the learner style and preference with the program design and the
delivery mode. Because many distance programs provide students
with flexibility regarding when they can enter and when they can grad
uate, it is important to make sure that the categories such as acceptance,
absence, completion, and departure are purposeful and valid. Developing
an operational definition of these categories will provide numbers that
are credible and useful. In other words, careful thought must be given
to determine how the numbers and rates will be calculated, how they
will be used, and how they will be communicated. Once the program
staff agree on the operational definitions of the relevant categories, it is
wise to keep the definitions on file to ensure consistency in their use
through time. Without such consistency, the rates calculated at differ
ent points will not be comparable.
Simply calculating the retention rate is not enough. If the overarch
ing goal of evaluation is program improvement, follow-up studies are
needed to investigate why some learners persist and others drop out. It
is beneficial to identify characteristics that distinguish between the two
groups of learners. Such analysis may guide changes in the recruitment
and selection procedures as well as modifications in learning design,
mode of instructional delivery, and student support.
How can data on students who drop out from the program be col
lected? Because learners’ characteristics are a major factor in outcome
achievement and satisfaction with the program, the starting point
should be an examination of existing data on students’ attributes. Data

sources include the application materials, records of completed work in
a single course or many courses, faculty notes and comments regarding
their work, records on the learners’ interactions with others enrolled
in the program, and the pattern of how they have used various re
sources. Another approach is to design a short questionnaire, send it
electronically, and give respondents the option of replying by U.S. mail
or e-mail. If an existing questionnaire is used, it should be adapted to
the specific program’s needs. Students prefer short questionnaires and
those that allow them to remain anonymous.
Learner Satisfaction
We have already commented on the drop-out rate as an indicator of

learner dissatisfaction with the program. In addition to examining the
drop-out rate, the retention rate, and the completion rate in a given
course or a program, it is also important to gather data regarding the
satisfaction of learners with various aspects of the distance program.
Such data may be collected at the end of each course and at the end of
the program. In a master’s program in education offered by The College
of St. Scholastica via distance learning, satisfaction data are collected 6
months after students have graduated from the program. A discussion
of the survey questions and the key findings may be found in the North
Central Association of Colleges and Schools proceedings (Mehrotra,
1999). Experience indicated that such follow-up surveys allow the
alumni to reflect on their experience in the program, to make compari
sons with graduates of other programs, and to examine the extent to
which the program helped them develop knowledge, attitudes, and
skills they need to succeed in their work settings.
When satisfaction data are collected at several points during and
after learners’ participation in the program, it is important to identify
when such data were collected, who was included, who was not in
cluded, and what aspects of the program or combination of technolo
gies they had experienced. Such identification is critical in light of the
evolving nature of many distance education programs and the large
number of changes they continue to experience. In addition, if the in
tent is to track developmental changes in the same participants through
time, it is important to include participants’ identification information
in the satisfaction measures they complete. Tracking such information
makes feasible a comparison of the satisfaction level of those who drop

out with that of those who participate to completion.
How should such data be collected? Probably the single most
widely used method of gathering learner satisfaction data is the written
survey because it provides the most information for the cost and effort
required. A survey can be administered by postal service, telephone,
the Internet, or e-mail. Mail surveys allow the respondents to remain
anonymous, respond freely and openly, and formulate answers care
fully by reflecting on experiences with different phases of the program.
Although telephone surveys offer the opportunity for the interviewer
to follow up on the points made by respondents, they are more expen
sive and do not permit anonymity. Surveys administered by e-mail
(with loss of respondent anonymity) or Internet provide excellent op
tions when the participants have access to personal computers. How
ever the survey is administered, the following suggestions may be
helpful with regard to its content and format. The content refers to the
subject matter to be included, whereas the format pertains to the struc
ture and appearance—how the items are worded, their appearance on
the page or the monitor, and the format used for answering the
questions.
Content. Include questions regarding specific aspects of the course

or the program under review. Seek suggestions from potential users of
survey data during the design stage—this increases the likelihood of its
use after the study is completed. Examine surveys used previously to
collect the needed information; considerable time and effort can be
saved. Include some of the old questions when new questions are
added to focus on recent changes in the program. Make the question
naire as short as possible—it is more likely to be completed by the
intended audience.
Format. Use both fixed-alternative and open-ended questions.

Fixed-alternative questions may include multiple-choice, true-false,
and ratings matrix questions in which items (e.g., “the program is well
designed”) and the answers (e.g., “strongly agree, agree, undecided,
disagree, strongly disagree”) are presented in the form of a matrix.
Open-ended but directed questions tend to be more helpful than sim
ply asking for comments. Example: “Name one thing you liked and one
thing you did not like about the program.” Although helpful informa
tion for program improvement can be obtained from items that elicit
specific comments, use a limited number of such items. To reduce
ambiguity in the survey, pretest the questionnaire with a group of
learners, and ask them to comment on the wording and clarity of ques
tions. Potential respondents should receive a statement explaining that
the information sought is being collected to examine the program and
is not about them personally. Further, respondents should be given
assurances that their responses are confidential and requested solely
for analytical data collection—not for marketing or selling lists of per
sonal data such as names, addresses, and phone numbers.
As we have emphasized throughout the chapter, employing multi

ple measures from multiple information sources is one of the core char
acteristics of valid and useful evaluations. When choosing measures to
assess the selected variables (examples: achievement, attitudes, attri
tion, completion rate, and satisfaction), evaluate the specific approaches
being considered by reflecting on the qualities of good measurement
instruments. Is something important being assessed? Are we asking
the right questions? Is the approach sensitive enough to detect small
changes? Does the measure seem valid, reliable, and cost-effective?
How will the data analysis be conducted? Who will use the findings?
Why? In other words, outcome evaluation needs careful planning.
Data analysis always involves making some comparison, regard
less of the nature the data collected to assess program effectiveness.
Numbers in isolation, without a frame of reference or basis of compari
son, seldom make much sense. Accordingly, evaluation designers
should work with the end users of the evaluation in selecting the com
parisons that will be significant in enhancing shared understanding,
making judgments regarding instructional effectiveness, and strength
ening both content and its mode of delivery. What are some possible
bases for making useful comparisons? The outcomes of a distance
learning program can be compared with the following:
• The outcomes of selected similar programs offered on campus

• The outcomes of selected similar distance education programs using
different delivery modes
• The outcomes of similar programs offered via distance learning modes

by another institution
• The outcomes of the same program offered the previous year (or in the
previous cycle)
• The stated goals of the program

• Standards of minimum acceptability (e.g., basic licensing or accredita
tion standards)
• Faculty and administrators’ expectations of program outcomes
This is not intended to be a comprehensive list of all available options.

We do intend to emphasize that various possibilities should be dis
cussed with potential users before designing the evaluation. Further
more, a combination of these comparisons can give a full and balanced
view of what is happening in the program (Patton, 1997).
The experience of attending a college or a university includes the
social milieu of the campus, the informal interactions that take place
outside the classes, and participation in cocurricular activities as well
as the courses taken by a given student. Thus, the education of an indi
vidual is the integrated outcome of all experiences he or she has had
during the college years. In conducting an evaluation of an entire pro
gram offered with different delivery modes (on-campus, Web-based,
ITV, or combinations thereof), attention needs to be given not only to
the outcomes of individual courses but also to the integrated outcome
of the entire experience.
After making the relevant comparisons, the evaluation process
moves on to the interpretation stage (Why the difference?) and judg
ments (Are such differences good or bad? Are they acceptable?). Data
interpretation is a human process, not easily automated, as is the analy
sis of statistical data. Interpreting outcome data requires a good under
standing of the program input and its processes. Engaging different us
ers of evaluation brings varying perspectives to the task of interpreting
and giving meaning to the data. Making judgments about the program
follows analysis and interpretations. If external evaluators are involved
in the process, their task is to facilitate the discussions on data interpre
tation and to help explore its various implications.
Whether evaluation is conducted in-house, externally, or as a com
bination of the two, it is essential to distinguish between analysis, inter
pretation, judgment, and recommendations. Insofar as possible, any
recommendations should include a consideration of the benefits and
costs of making the suggested changes, including the costs and risks of
not making them (Patton, 1997). We now turn our attention to a discus
sion of costs and benefits.
Analysis of Costs and Outcomes
So far, our discussion of program evaluation has focused on input, pro

cesses, and outcomes. Although it is essential to document the extent to
which the program has achieved the intended outcomes, it is just as
critical to assess the costs of attempting to achieve those outcomes.
Whether it is done impressionistically or through formal procedures,
comparison of costs and outcomes is one of the most important consid
erations in deciding whether to expand, continue, or terminate a given
program (Rossi, Freeman, & Lipsey, 1999).
One of the more confusing aspects of incorporating cost analysis
into evaluation and decision making is that a number of different but
related concepts and terms are often used interchangeably. Among
these are cost-benefit analysis and cost-effectiveness analysis. The key dif
ference between the two is the way in which the effects of a program are
expressed in monetary terms. A cost-benefit analysis allows the evalua
tor to report the net benefits by subtracting the costs from the benefits.
In contrast, cost-effectiveness analysis does not require that benefits be
expressed in monetary terms. Instead, the effectiveness of a program in
reaching the intended goals is related to what it costs to offer the pro
gram (Levin, 1983). In other words, different modes of delivering the
same program or course are evaluated, and their costs compared. Thus,
one can compare two or more delivery modes for helping students
achieve the same outcomes. Given the large body of literature regard
ing the “no significant difference” among different modes of delivery
(e.g., Russell, 1999), one possible approach may be to compare the costs
of various modes of offering the same course. One may question, how
ever, the assumption regarding the similarity of outcomes across de
livery modes. This argument is especially relevant when the entire
program is offered via distance learning. In light of these varying
assumptions, the discussion in this section focuses on principles and
concepts rather than prescribing a certain approach to relating costs to
outcomes.
Cost Framework
When estimating the costs of offering a course or a program, a com

mon practice is to consider both direct and indirect costs. Because in
direct costs (or overhead) tend to be similar for courses provided by
the same institution, we focus on the direct costs associated with the
instructional modes included in making the comparison. Jewett and
Davis (1999) suggest that at least five components are included in di
rect costs. Four of them are related to the course itself, and the other
depends on the number of students enrolled in the course. A brief de
scription of these components follows.
1. Course development and design costs. These costs relate to the human
resources required to determine the course content, the learning out
comes, instructional strategies, and assessment techniques. These costs
are incurred at least a semester or two before a distance learning course
is actually offered. In addition, faculty developing such courses often
need training or consultations related to teaching students at a distance.
Costs associated with these activities also need to be included.
2. Course production costs. This category includes the expenses incurred in

producing course materials, such as videotaped presentations, materi
als placed on the course Web site, syllabi, study guides, assessment
measures, and assignments.
3. Course maintenance costs. These costs apply especially to courses that are
produced for multiple distributions for several years. Because text
books continue to be revised, resources needed to keep the course con
tent current by regular updating must be budgeted. Failure to recog
nize maintenance costs may lead to the discontinuation of the course as
its content becomes outdated.
4. Course distribution costs. If the course is being offered via ITV, it is neces
sary to budget for technical personnel at several sites, broadcasting
costs, number of hours materials are being transmitted, royalty pay
ments for copyrighted materials, and any studio charges or member
ship dues paid to maintain the broadcasting site. Course distribution
costs also include expenses incurred in delivering printed materials,
floppy disks, CD-ROMs, videotapes, and audiotapes to students.
5. Support costs. These costs include faculty and staff time related to inter
actions with individual students regarding the course content, moni
toring of their participation, evaluation, and grade assignment. For

online courses, faculty time devoted to communication with students
can be considerable. If students are provided access to faculty by toll-
free telephone, these expenses will depend on the number of students
enrolled in the course and should be included in the support costs as
well.
Relating Costs to Program Effectiveness
In evaluating different delivery methods, one approach is to as

sume that their outcomes are similar (Russell, 1999). Then, all compo
nents of the direct costs are determined and compared across modali
ties. Variable costs depend on the number of students enrolled in each
mode of delivery. The fixed costs of the program are associated with the
development of instructional materials, course production and distri
bution, and assessment procedures. The fixed costs may make distance
education more expensive per student than on-campus classroom in
struction when the number of students is rather small. It is possible,
however, that after a certain level of enrollment is reached, the cost dif
ferences between distance and on-campus instruction may not be sig
nificant or may even make the distance instruction less expensive. Cost
savings can be realized by creative networking that leads to course or
program sharing among different colleges or universities. This strategy
may significantly increase enrollment in the distance course and help
distribute the course development costs across a larger number of stu
dents, thereby reducing the cost per student for the program. A cost
simulation model developed by Jewett and Davis (1999) is now avail
able to examine the cost efficiency of offering distance courses in collab
oration with other institutions.
When the delivery methods under review may not be assumed
to be similar with regard to the extent to which they achieve the ex
pected outcomes, it is essential to examine their effectiveness in re
lation to the monetary costs. Cost-effectiveness analysis allows com
parison and rank ordering of delivery modes by their per unit costs
for reaching different outcomes. For example, in comparing distance
instruction with in-class instruction for outcomes such as drop-out
rate, learning outcomes, and graduation rates, cost-effectiveness ratios
(costs/outcome) may be computed without having to assign a dollar
value to the outcomes. Computing cost-effectiveness ratios for ex

pected outcomes may be valuable in making comparisons through a
number of years. When benefits can be expressed in monetary terms
(e.g., tuition revenues), program efficiency can be judged by comparing
costs to benefits. Because this is usually not the case in evaluation of
distance programs, cost-effectiveness analysis remains the preferred
approach.
An institution may choose to offer distance education even when
it finds that such an approach is not cost-efficient. This decision must
be based on the institutional mission of meeting the educational needs
of place-bound students from a wide geographical area rather than
serving only those who can participate in campus-based programs. In
other words, a dollars-and-cents analysis alone cannot answer the
question, “Should we offer this program?” Other factors such as insti
tutional mission and value considerations play an important role in the
process of making program-related decisions.
Conclusion
Although evaluation provides necessary information for possible im

provements and decision making, quality teaching and learning must
not be impaired by the excessive demands of conducting a comprehen
sive evaluation. Some distance education programs have progressed to
the point of conducting comprehensive evaluations (Freddolino &
Sutherland, 2000; Haga & Heitkamp, 2000; Potts & Hagen, 2000). Our
experience indicates that it is better to undertake a series of smaller
studies based on a variety of approaches using available data than to
commit all available resources to a large-scale study employing a single
approach that demands extensive data collection. Although it is cus
tomary to recommend one significantly rigorous plan, evaluation takes
many forms in actual practice, and less rigorous approaches may be
sufficient. Furthermore, it is wise not to declare allegiance to either a
quantitative-scientific-summative methodology or a qualitative-natu
ralistic-descriptive methodology. Merit lies not in the form of inquiry
but in the relevance the information has in answering questions that
evaluation was designed to address.
Summary Tips
• Conduct an evaluation to make needed adjustments and modifications

and to decide whether to expand, continue, or terminate the program.
• Engage potential users in all stages of the evaluation process.

• Focus on program inputs, learning processes, and student outcomes;
this approach leads to a better understanding of why certain outcomes
are not being achieved and helps in making needed improvements.
• Use application forms and essays to develop a profile of learner charac

teristics when appropriate.
• Use information from application essays to serve as a baseline for eval

uating students’ progress.
• Clearly identify key characteristics of alternatives to be compared; this

information will be helpful in conceptualizing what distinguishes
them from each other and why they differ or do not differ in their effec
tiveness.
• Examine how the program operates by observing what the learners ac
tually do, how often they interact with each other, and what support
services they use.
• Provide evidence of contact and quality of contact between faculty and

students.
• Assess program effectiveness by collecting data on outcomes such as

student learning (knowledge, skills, and attitudes and values), reten
tion, and satisfaction for each delivery mode.
• Conduct data analysis separately for each outcome as well as for inte
grated outcomes.
• Be clear about definitions; uncertainty about what is actually being

measured can lead to misinterpretations.
• Devote adequate attention to assessing the outcomes of the program as

a whole in addition to evaluating the outcomes of individual courses.
• Collect evaluation data on input, processes, and outcomes by using

multiple measures.
• Use existing data, whenever possible.

• Obtain needed information from multiple sources (e.g., students, fac

ulty, administrators, alumni, and employers).
• Interpret evaluation data by comparing alternatives expected to

achieve the same outcomes.
• Relate program outcomes to costs by conducting cost-effectiveness

analysis for all alternatives that are being compared.
• Report the evaluation findings to faculty members promptly to help

them improve teaching effectiveness.
On our companion Web site, we present examples of outcomes

evaluations in one of our own distance education courses, a follow-up
study of graduates of a master of education program offered via distance
learning, and evaluation questionnaires. Also included is information
about books and journals related to evaluation of distance programs.
References
Astin, A. W. (1991). Assessment for excellence: The philosophy and practice of assess
ment and evaluation in higher education. New York: Macmillan.
Freddolino, P., & Sutherland, C. (2000). Assessing the comparability of class
room environments in graduate social work education delivered via inter
active television. Journal of Social Work Education, 36(1), 115-129.
Haga, M., & Heitkamp, T. (2000). Bringing social work education to the prairie.
Journal of Social Work Education, 36(2), 309-324.
Jewett, F., & Davis, D. (1999). Cost simulation model (bridge). Retrieved April 12,
2001, from the World Wide Web: www.calstate.edu/special_projects/
mediated_instr/Bridge/index.html
Levin, H. M. (1983). Cost effectiveness: A primer. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
Mehrotra, C. M. (1999, April). Using assessment to strengthen distance learn
ing programs. In S. E. Van Kollenburg (Ed.), A collection of papers on self-
study and institutional improvement (pp. 64-67). Chicago: North Central
Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Institutions of

Higher Education.
Merisotis, J. P. (1999, September-October). The “what is the difference” debate.
Academe, 85(5), 47-51.
Patton, M. Q. (1997). Utilization-focused evaluation. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Potts, M., & Hagan, C. (2000). Going the distance: Using systems theory to
design, implement, and evaluate a distance education program. Journal of
Social Work Education, 36(1), 131-145.
Powell, R., Conway, C., & Ross, L. (1990). Effects of student predisposing char
acteristics on student success. Journal of Distance Education, 5(1), 20-37.
Rossi, P. H., Freeman, H. E., & Lipsey, M. W. (1999). Evaluation: A systematic
approach (6th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Russell, T. L. (1999). The “no significant difference” phenomenon as reported in 355
research reports, summaries and papers. Raleigh: North Carolina State Uni
versity Office of Instructional Telecommunications.
11
Accreditation
M ost colleges and universities in the United States are

accredited by one of the country’s eight regional accrediting commis
sions. In addition, specific programs within these institutions are accred
ited by national professional associations such as those for engineering,
medicine, law, business, education, psychology, and social work. Both
institutional accreditation and specialized accreditation are voluntary and
have two fundamental purposes: quality assurance and institutional/
program improvement. Accrediting bodies evaluate more than formal
educational activities; they also assess such characteristics as gover
nance and administration, financial stability, admissions and student
personnel services, institutional resources, student academic achieve
ment, institutional effectiveness, and relationships with constituencies
outside the institution. In other words, as we discussed in Chapter 10,
evaluators focus on inputs, processes, and outcomes for the institution
as a whole.
Although the eight regional accrediting commissions are inde
pendent of one another, they cooperate extensively and recognize one
195
another’s accreditation. In addition, they take cognizance of the stan

dards set by professional bodies and require the affiliated institutions
to keep them abreast of significant changes in their accreditation status
with specialized agencies. This cooperation between accrediting agen
cies furthers the standards that promote educational quality and allows
the institutions to explore new ways of achieving their stated goals and
objectives. Because new information technologies are accelerating the
globalization of higher education, it is essential to extend such coopera
tion and exchange of ideas and information to the international level as
well.
The quality of educational experience that students receive in dis
tance learning programs has been the subject of both criticism and de
bate from the public, legislators, and educators themselves. Therefore,
it is not surprising that almost all accrediting agencies now require
higher education institutions to address such questions as these:
• How can the institution ensure the quality of distance learning courses
and programs?
• What safeguards can the institution employ to sustain program integ

rity and deter potential abuses?
• How can this nontraditional delivery system help an institution realize

its stated goals and objectives?
The guidelines developed by accrediting agencies can help the in

stitutions respond to some of the internal and external queries concern
ing quality assurance as they contemplate the establishment, expan
sion, or enhancement of distance learning programs. In the following
section, we provide the guidelines for distance learning programs that
are currently used by all the regional accrediting associations. These
guidelines are based on an extension of the principles developed by the
Western Interstate Commission on Higher Education (WICHE).
Guidelines for Distance Learning
The following guidelines were approved by the Commission on Insti

tutions of Higher Education, North Central Association of Colleges
and Schools (NCA) in March 1997. The commission considers such
Accreditation 197
statements to be working documents, subject to revision, and continues

to review their usefulness as more is learned from institutions engaged
in exploring new modes of delivery from educational teams and from
the broader higher education community and the public. Although
these guidelines represent a working document under constant review,
they provide a framework to readers contemplating developing dis
tance learning programs.
Curriculum and Instruction
Programs provide for timely and appropriate interaction between

students and faculty, and among students.
The institution’s faculty assumes responsibility for and exercises
oversight over distance education, ensuring both the rigor of pro
grams and the quality of instruction.
The institution ensures that the technology used is appropriate to

the nature and objectives of the programs.
The institution ensures the currency of materials, programs, and

courses.
The institution’s distance education policies are clear concerning
ownership of materials, faculty compensation, copyright issues,
and the utilization of revenue derived from the creation and pro
duction of software, telecourses, or other media products.
The institution provides appropriate faculty support services spe

cifically related to distance education.
The institution provides appropriate training for faculty who

teach in distance education programs.
Evaluation and Assessment
The institution assesses student capability to succeed in distance

education programs and applies this information to admission
and recruiting policies and decisions.
The institution evaluates the educational effectiveness of its dis
tance education programs (including assessments of student
learning outcomes, student retention, and student satisfaction) to
ensure comparability to campus-based programs.
The institution ensures the integrity of student work and the

credibility of the degrees and credits it awards.
Library and Learning Resources
The institution ensures that students have access to and can effec
tively use appropriate library resources.
The institution monitors whether students make appropriate use

of learning resources.
The institution provides laboratories, facilities, and equipment

appropriate to the courses or programs.
Student Services
The institution provides adequate access to the range of student

services appropriate to support the programs, including admis
sions, financial aid, academic advising, delivery of course materi
als, and placement and counseling.
The institution provides an adequate means for resolving student
complaints.
The institution provides students advertising, recruiting, and
admissions information that adequately and accurately represents
the programs, requirements, and services available.
The institution ensures that students admitted possess the knowl
edge and equipment necessary to use the technology employed in
the program, and provides aid to students who are experiencing
difficulty using the required technology.
Facilities and Finances
The institution possesses the equipment and technical expertise

required for distance education.
The institution’s long range planning, budgeting, and policy

development processes reflect the facilities, staffing, equipment
and other resources essential to the viability and effectiveness of
the distance learning program. (pp. 171-172)
Accreditation 199
Providing Evidence Regarding the

Program’s Effectiveness in Meeting the Guidelines
All accrediting agencies include two components in conducting com

prehensive evaluations: institutional self-study and peer evaluation. It
is expected that the institution seeking accreditation plans and under
takes a self-study process to determine how well it meets the stated re
quirements and criteria and to clarify its plans for improving and en
hancing its programs and operations. The findings of this self-study are
presented in a report that constitutes the institution’s application for
accreditation and also serves as the basis for an evaluation site visit by
peers from accredited institutions.
The self-study report and the evaluation process include all aspects
of the institution and its programs. Our discussion in this chapter,
however, focuses mainly on how distance learning programs meet the
accreditation guidelines. This documentation is included in the self-
study report that the institution submits to the accrediting agency.
Curriculum and Instruction
A. Programs provide for timely and appropriate interaction

between students and faculty and among students.
This requirement is based on the premise that the more interactive

the instruction, the more effective the learning outcome is likely to be
(Sumler & Zirkin, 1995). In Chapter 3, we suggested a variety of strate
gies to encourage faculty-student contact and to promote reciprocity
and cooperation among students. While preparing the self-study re
port, the institution should review these strategies and determine
which of them will be (or are being) used in each of the distance
courses. The reviewers would be interested in learning the extent to
which these strategies have been used, what has worked well, and
what not so well. They would also like to know how using these strate
gies affects the instructors’ workloads, the maximum class size for the
courses, and the number of courses the instructors teach in a given
term. In short, this section of the self-study should include specific
evidence of substantial interactivity among students and between stu
dents and faculty.
For example, for an online course, logs could be submitted of chat

room activity, e-mails to the instructors, and use of the toll-free tele
phone number. For an ITV course, the institution could make available
videotapes of in-class, cross-site, and within-site student-student and
student-instructor discussions. Data from end-of-course evaluations
regarding students’ assessments of the amount and quality of interac
tion and connectivity in the course could also be included.
B. The institution’s faculty assumes responsibility for and

exercises oversight of distance education, ensuring both the
rigor of programs and the quality of instruction.
The accrediting bodies expect the institutions to document that fac

ulty members control the creation of course content and maintain over
sight of the implementation of all distance programs. We offer the fol
lowing suggestions to address these requirements:
• Provide documentation that the program or the institution’s curricu

lum committee is responsible for curriculum development and evalua
tion. Indicate if the faculty who designed distance courses are the same
individuals who teach these courses in the on-campus program. If the
same faculty are not responsible for the two modes of delivery, include
evidence of how the two sets of instructors work together to ensure
equivalence in the two offerings.
• Provide evidence how the syllabi for the distance courses are designed
to achieve the same learning outcomes as the companion on-campus
courses.
• If the program employs part-time faculty, include evidence demon

strating how they are selected, how they interact with core faculty, and
what methods are used to ensure that they maintain standards similar
to those used for on-campus courses.
C. The institution ensures that the technology used is appropriate

to the nature and objectives of the programs.
This requirement may be addressed by describing the technology

or combination of technologies used for delivering the program, indi
cating why these technologies were selected, and explaining how they
match the program goals and objectives. The discussion should detail
Accreditation 201
how the program outcomes were clarified initially and then how the
technology was selected to best fulfill the desired program functions
and outcomes.
This part of the self-study report should include documentation
demonstrating that students have both access to the technologies used
in the program and the knowledge and skills necessary to use them. In
Chapter 3, we suggested that instruction be made available to students
who need to learn how to use technology effectively to access learning
resources. If the program design includes a module on using technol
ogy or requires that students have access to specific technologies and
know how to use them, the self-study report should include a discus
sion of these requirements and how they are met. The report should
also describe the specific steps taken by the institution to ensure that
those traditionally underrepresented in higher education (e.g., African
Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans, and those from lower
income levels) are not at a distinct disadvantage in having increased
access to distance courses. Furthermore, this discussion should also
include how the program addresses the needs of students with various
disabilities.
D. The institution ensures the currency of materials, programs,

and courses.
Accrediting bodies will look for documentation that the mecha

nisms have been created to ensure the currency of materials, programs,
and courses. The report should include a discussion of who is responsi
ble for monitoring the program content, its delivery methods, and the
faculty preparation and a description of the external and internal indi
cators that provide evidence for currency of all aspects of the distance
program. Here are some possible approaches that may be used to ad
dress this requirement:
• Describe the composition of the faculty committee responsible for con

ducting program reviews, and explain the cycle that the committee
uses to select the programs reviewed in a given year.
• Include a copy of the checklist used by the program director and during
the review process.
• Include a description of how the committee obtains input from an ex

ternal reviewer, if applicable.
• Analyze the syllabi for the past 5 years to determine what changes have
been made and how they reflect the advances in the field.
• Examine data from sources such as employer surveys, alumni surveys,

licensing examinations, and graduate record examinations.
• Describe how the assessment findings are used to make programmatic

improvements on a regular basis.
• Outline the support that the institution provides faculty to incorporate

new advances in their courses.
As we stated in Chapter 10, having such information readily avail

able is useful not only for accreditation purposes but also for program
marketing and institutional advancement. In addition, employers of
program graduates also appreciate knowing that the institution makes
continual efforts to keep its programs current. This in turn facilitates
the placement of graduates.
E. The institution’s distance education policies are clear

concerning (a) ownership of materials; (b) faculty
compensation; (c) copyright issues; and (d) use of revenues
derived from the creation and production of software,
telecourses, or other media products.
The self-study report should refer the readers to the institution’s

faculty handbook describing the policies that have been approved re
garding the ownership of the distance learning materials, copyright is
sues, and use of revenues. The American Association of University Pro
fessors (AAUP, 2000) Special Committee on Distance Education and
Intellectual Property Issues suggested that copyright of materials pro
duced by the faculty members should belong to them except when they
have been produced for a specific requirement of employment or as an
assigned institutional duty. In addition, a distance learning course may
be co-owned by an institution and a faculty member when he or she
contributes the courseware and the institution provides specialized
service such as technical support to adapt the courseware for use in a
distance learning environment. Interested readers may consult the
Accreditation 203
AAUP’s distance education policies at its Web site (www.aaup.org/

DistncEd.htm). The key point is that accrediting bodies want to en
sure that the institution has thought through its policies with regard to
the ownership of distance education courses and materials, has ob
tained approval of the policies by the board of trustees, and has in
cluded them in the faculty handbook. Taking these steps promotes a
clear understanding by the faculty before they design distance educa
tion materials.
F. The institution provides appropriate faculty support services

specifically related to distance education.
This requirement is included to ensure that an integrated team re

mains available to support faculty efforts related to distance education.
Who are the members of this team? Although there may be some vari
ability across institutions, examples of team members include technol
ogy support staff, media specialists, counselors, library service person
nel, distribution clerks, and site administrators. Each member of the
team contributes in unique ways toward the goal of providing uninter
rupted services essential for teaching and learning. Without such sup
port, distance learning programs cannot continue to operate effectively
and efficiently.
Because the smooth functioning of programs demands critical fac
ulty support services, self-study reports must provide a detailed de
scription of the arrangements that have been made in each of the areas
outlined above. In addition, it is important to track student use of vari
ous services (e.g., library, financial aid, registrar, counseling, and place
ment) and to include such records in the self-study report. Although
technology makes it easier to accomplish the tracking with minimum
additional work, it is important to design a systematic plan ahead of
time and maintain the needed records for purposes of accreditation and
program improvement.
G. The institution provides appropriate training for faculty who

teach in distance education programs.
In this section of the self-study report, the institution is expected to

describe how faculty members are selected, how they are assisted in
making the transition from classroom teaching to distance instruction
and how they are assessed in this process, what technical assistance in
course development is made available to them and how they are en
couraged to use it, what training instructors receive throughout the
progression of the program, and what written resources are provided
to assist them in dealing with student-related issues arising in distance
programs.
The institution needs to document how it offers faculty training,
peer mentoring, and individualized consultation and support on a con
tinuing basis, rather than only when a program is being launched. In
addition to describing the training activities and resources, the report
should include a profile of the participating faculty, explain how fac
ulty have used the available training and support, and document how
the support has contributed to the faculty members’ professional de
velopment and the ways that it has affected their teaching in campus-
based courses. Thus, the report should include not only a description of
the training activities but their evaluation as well.
Evaluation and Assessment
A. The institution assesses student capability to succeed in

distance education programs and applies this information to
admission and recruiting policies and decisions.
In Chapter 10, we saw that evaluation of distance programs focuses

not only on outcomes but on input and processes as well. The first re
quirement in the accreditation guidelines concerns the policies and
procedures that a given institution has in place with regard to admis
sion of students to the program. The self-study report should address
this requirement by outlining the admission criteria that faculty have
established to ensure that accepted students have the abilities, prepa
ration, and motivation essential for success in a distance learning
program (see Chapter 10 for examples of procedures used to obtain
information with regard to the admission requirements). These re
quirements for success in a distance format are in addition to the
program-specific standards that faculty have established for all modes
of delivery. Some accrediting bodies want to be assured that the same
Accreditation 205
standards are used for both distance and campus-based offerings of the
program.
Simply outlining admission criteria is insufficient. Accrediting
agencies also expect the institution to describe who is responsible for
implementing the admission procedures, monitoring the process, and
using the findings to make modifications and adjustments as necessary.
This discussion should include summary tables with information on
applicant characteristics regarding the stated criteria. The table entries
should distinguish between those who were accepted and those who
were denied admission, as well as indicating students who were provi
sionally accepted. A concluding section should present the highlights
of what has been learned as a result of monitoring the process of attract
ing a critical mass of students, reviewing their application materials,
making admission decisions, and tracking their progress. Reflecting on
this process will help the institution identify the characteristics of stu
dents who successfully complete the distance learning program. This
information is helpful in fine-tuning the admission criteria, the meth
ods for obtaining the needed information from the applicants, and the
procedures for making the selection decisions.
B. The institution evaluates the educational effectiveness of its

distance education programs (including assessment of student
learning outcomes, student retention, and student satisfaction)
to ensure comparability with campus-based programs.
This section of the self-study report focuses on providing evidence

regarding the effectiveness of the program in achieving the expected
outcomes. Chapter 10 offers a detailed discussion of methods for as
sessing program effectiveness. All self-study reports include a compre
hensive analysis of the institutionwide assessment plan, its implemen
tation, and its findings as a means of documenting the measurement of
student learning outcomes. It follows that the criteria for assessing dis
tance education programs should be consistent with those used by the
institution as a whole and should be used to compare the relative effec
tiveness of alternate modes of institutional delivery.
In light of the concern about the drop-out rate in distance pro
grams, this section of the self-study report should describe the proce
dures adopted to track student progress in the program. Findings re

garding retention rate should be presented and compared with
campus-based programs in the same discipline. If the data on student
satisfaction are also reported for various modes of program delivery,
reviewers will appreciate having access to copies of the survey instru
ments used to collect data. In our experience, it is a good idea to include
student and alumni satisfaction data for a number of years. This allows
the reviewers to assess the progress that the program has made by im
plementing important changes based on student input.
C. The institution ensures the integrity of student work and the

credibility of the degrees it awards.
The self-study report should document that the students in distance

programs receive the quality of education comparable with what on-site
students receive. In Chapters 9 and 10, we suggested strategies for en
suring the integrity of student work and the credibility of degrees that
are awarded. Examples of these strategies include developing learning
contracts with students that allow them to achieve the course outcomes;
having tests proctored by locally assigned individuals; holding unan
nounced telephone discussions between the instructor and the students;
and having students defend their thesis (or report of their research) in
the traditional manner before a faculty committee, although the discus
sion may take place via ITV or speakerphone. Although this is not a
comprehensive list of strategies, those items reviewed here emphasize
the importance of creating innovative ways to ensure the integrity of
student work and presenting those methods in the self-study report.
If the distance education program is offered in a professional area
(such as nursing, physical therapy, and health information administra
tion) in which program graduates take a licensing exam as a prerequi
site to employment, the institution should monitor student perfor
mance on these exams and present an analysis of the data as an
indication of the credibility of the degrees it awards in these disciplines.
The performance of program graduates on licensing exams offers evi
dence useful in assessing and documenting program outcomes at no
additional cost to the program because such external measures provide
comparisons with national, regional, or state statistics.
Accreditation 207
Accrediting agencies expect institutions to show that they have

procedures in place to monitor the integrity of student work and that
these procedures are used continually. In addition, institutions are ex
pected to document the comparability of alternative modes of deliver
ing the same program. Because the diplomas that students receive are
the same no matter what delivery mode is used, the learning outcomes
must be the same as well.
Library and Learning Resources
A. The institution ensures that students have access to and can

effectively use appropriate library resources.
Many students enrolled in distance programs experience a sense of

isolation and concern about the equivalence of their learning experi
ences to traditional on-campus instruction. One important way to en
sure equivalence of the learning experiences is to provide appropriate
library resources that are accessible to and usable by all students. Self-
study reports should explain how the students are provided with
hands-on training and information to aid them in securing materials
through electronic databases, interlibrary loans, electronic reserves,
government archives, news services, and so on. With the rapid pace at
which traditional libraries are being complemented (or supplanted?)
by computer networks and online retrieval systems, accrediting bodies
expect that institutions will substantiate that students and faculty are
provided with orientation and training sessions to access information
in new ways. Evidence regarding the currency and effectiveness of
these sessions needs to be included.
Making library resources and information services available is not
enough. An easily accessible support system that assists learners in
making effective use of these resources throughout the program must
be created and documented. Accrediting agencies expect that distance
education programs will provide information such as this: What li
brary resources have been made available to students enrolled in the
program? How do the students receive the information training and
orientation that they need to make effective use of new information
technologies? What support systems are in place to provide them with
assistance that they may need to access the information? How does the
institution ensure their effectiveness? What system is in place to ad
dress student complaints about these resources?
B. The institution monitors whether students make appropriate

use of learning resources.
Students must use a full range of learning resources (textbooks,

journal articles, monographs, project reports, Internet links, group
work, etc.) to achieve the professed program outcomes. The grades that
students receive in the course reflect their performance on tests, assign
ments, presentations, participation in discussion groups, group assign
ments, and demonstrations. In view of the variety of learning resources
required to achieve the outcomes related to knowledge, attitudes and
values, skills, and behaviors, the institution needs to monitor and docu
ment that students are making appropriate use of the wide range of
learning resources. The underlying rationale for this requirement is
that learning how to learn is as important as achieving the course out
comes. The guidelines are based on the premise that simply making
learning resources available does not guarantee that all students are us
ing them effectively to attain the expected outcomes.
In summary, the self-study report should include the following:
1. A description of the procedures used to monitor student use of the

learning resources
2. An analysis of data collected by the monitoring process
3. A discussion of how the findings are used for enhancement of support

services
C. The institution provides laboratories, facilities, and
equipment appropriate to the courses or programs.
The accrediting agencies want assurance that the students have ac
cess to laboratories, clinical facilities, fieldwork sites, and equipment
essential to achieving program goals. Such evidence is critical in dem
onstrating that the learning experiences of students in distance pro
grams are equivalent to those enrolled in campus-based programs. If,
for example, a counseling psychology program is offered by distance
Accreditation 209
learning, how do the students receive practical training in various as

pects of the counseling process? How do they receive supervision and
feedback? How do they demonstrate that they have developed the re
quired skills and competencies? If the institution has developed part
nerships with providers of counseling services in different communi
ties, it should include copies of these agreements in the self-study
report submitted to the accreditation agency. In other words, it is ex
pected that all distance programs include documentation regarding the
arrangements they have made to provide students with easy access to
the laboratories, facilities, and equipment needed for various compo
nents of the program. Information also should be included regarding
students’ experience with these resources, modifications, and adjust
ments that have been made through time and plans for the future.
Student Services
In reviewing distance learning programs, all accrediting agencies

conduct a rigorous assessment of the quality of student services. Al
though on the surface, such an emphasis may reflect continuing con
cern about the low rates of course program completion and the large
number of student complaints regarding some programs, the underly
ing rationale has to do with the critical role played by student support
in the effectiveness of distance education programs. Phipps, Wellman,
and Merisotis (1998) observed that a focus on adequate student support
as an essential element of teaching and learning may be one of the most
distinctive indicators of the quality of distance learning environments.
The following subsections outline approaches that may be used to doc
ument the quality of student services.
A. The institution provides adequate access to the range of

student services appropriate to support the programs,
including admissions, financial aid, academic advising,
delivery of course materials, and placement and counseling.
The self-study report should include a detailed discussion regard

ing the four categories of student services listed above. In the section on
evaluation and assessment, we noted that the institution should out
line the criteria that it uses to accept students into the program and
should substantiate that those criteria are equivalent to those used in
the campus-based program. Because a large number of nontraditional

students enroll in distance programs, answers to the following ques
tions should be readily available:
• Does the institution give credit for what students have learned on the
job or through other life experiences? How is the prior learning
assessed and documented? What fees, if any, are charged for this
service?
• Does the institution allow students to “test out” of a course or courses?

If so, are standardized exams used, such as College Level Examination
Program exams developed by the Educational Testing Service?
• Can a student take courses offered by a program before being admitted

to a program?
• Will the institution accept transfer credits in the program? If yes, how
many?
The accrediting agencies like to know institutional policies regard

ing the above questions, how those policies are communicated to po
tential participants, how they are implemented, and how the institu
tion monitors their impact on program outcomes. The site visitors are
especially interested in learning how the institution ensures the equiva
lence of transfer credits to courses offered in its on-campus program.
For example, consider the implications of an institutional policy that al
lows students to complete all the general education requirements be
fore applying for admission to a professional program offered by dis
tance learning. In this scenario, the institution is expected to document
that the transfer students have acquired the expected knowledge,
skills, and attitudes and values at another institution judged necessary
for success in the professional program.
In addition to explaining the policies and procedures related to ad
missions, the self-study report should include information regarding
tuition, fees, and financial aid for the program. Simply listing amounts
for each of these categories is not adequate. The report should describe
how this information is made available to distance learners, the effec
tiveness of the staff members in answering students’ questions, and the
level of students’ satisfaction with the service they receive from the in
stitution. Given the continuing changes in the financial aid regulations,
the institution should report how it keeps itself abreast of new develop
Accreditation 211
ments and how it incorporates up-to-date information in the materials

that it prepares for potential participants.
One of the major frustrations of distance learners is the difficulty
that they experience in contacting the appropriate person or office to
answer their questions related to admissions, registration, and finan
cial aid. It is a good idea to include a discussion in the self-study report
highlighting how the institution has created a single contact for the stu
dents to obtain the information needed to enroll in the program.
Academic advising plays a critical role in helping students weave
through the institutional requirements and processes. The self-study
report should clearly explain how the advising process works in a dis
tance learning environment, how many students are assigned to an ac
ademic adviser in a given term, what training programs have been of
fered to advisers new to working with students at a distance, what the
institution has learned from evaluating the process of academic advis
ing, and how the advising process has (one hopes) improved through
time.
The self-study report also should detail how the course materials
are delivered to the learners. This section includes a description of the
information that students receive after they have been accepted in the
program. For example, in a video-based course, students may receive
(a) a course guide that offers specific information about the course, its
outcomes and objectives, policies, and procedures; (b) videotaped pre
sentations; (c) session notes; and (d) textbook(s). If the course is offered
via the Internet, the students receive a course guide, textbook(s), and
logon information. This section describes how the program ensures co
ordination between the admissions process, academic advising, regis
tration, and delivery of course materials. Because lack of coordination
may delay the delivery of course materials and create unnecessary anx
iety among the students, the self-study report should describe what
steps have been taken to achieve effective coordination between vari
ous offices and how satisfied the students are with the services they re
ceive in this regard.
In addition to providing students with hands-on training and in
formation on using the technology that the program employs to deliver
course materials, the institution is also expected to make technical
assistance available to all students throughout the duration of the
program. The self-study report should describe what avenues (e.g.,
toll-free number, e-mail, and online tutorial) have been afforded to
students, which members of the technical staff have been assigned

these responsibilities, and how they work together to improve the tech
nical support using student feedback. The site visitors appreciate re
viewing the log that the program staff maintains regarding student re
quests for technical support and when and how they were handled.
Evaluators need to know who provides technical support, when such
support is available (hours per day, days per week), and the level of stu
dent satisfaction with the support.
Many adult students enroll in professional programs with the goal
of seeking a job, changing jobs, or beginning a career. Accrediting agen
cies therefore assess what counseling services have been made avail
able to distance learners, how frequently they have been used, and how
satisfied the students are with these services. We suggest that the self-
study report should include a description of these services (their con
tent focus and delivery mode), data on their use by the students, evalu
ation by the students, and statistics regarding student placement.
B. The institution provides an adequate means for resolving

student complaints.
The accrediting agencies need assurance that questions directed to

all members of the program staff are answered accurately and quickly,
with a structured system in place to address student complaints. They
expect the self-study report to include a discussion of the system that
the program has designed to respond to students’ questions, to address
student complaints, and to make students aware of the process and
procedures that are in place to resolve their complaints. As we have
noted earlier, it is important to maintain systematic records regarding
the complaints received, what they dealt with, when and how they
were addressed, and who was responsible for resolving them. Having
access to these records allows the site visitors to randomly interview a
small sample of students and assess their satisfaction with how their
complaints were resolved. When a large number of complaints are in
the same focus area (e.g., financial aid, technical support, or library ser
vices) during a given period, the accrediting bodies expect the program
to document what steps it has taken to improve these services, what re
sults it has achieved, and how it has designed mechanisms to prevent
such problems in the future.
Accreditation 213
C. The institution provides students with advertising, recruiting,

and admission information that adequately and accurately
represents the program, requirements, and services available.
Potential participants in a distance education program may have

limited familiarity with the program’s content, requirements, delivery
method, and available services. Thus, institutions are expected to ex
plain what strategies (e.g., college bulletins, fact sheets, program bro
chures, Web sites, and information sessions) they use to make the es
sential information available to prospective learners, how they assess
the effectiveness of different modalities, and how they use assessment
findings to strengthen their efforts. The self-study report should in
clude examples of recruitment materials that the program has used
along with evidence regarding their effectiveness in reaching the in
tended audience and providing the needed information. We suggest in
cluding comparative data regarding the methods that the program has
employed to attract various segments of the target population, includ
ing those from underrepresented groups.
The accrediting bodies also expect the institution to document that
marketing materials accurately represent all aspects of the program in
an easy-to-understand language and style. Presenting an accurate de
scription of the program, its outcomes, and the demands it places on
the participants increases the likelihood of attracting learners who have
the potential to do well in the new format. The self-study report should
clearly describe the procedures that were used in designing the materi
als, in field testing the drafts, and in securing internal approvals to offer
the program.
D. The institution ensures that students admitted possess the

knowledge and the equipment necessary to use the technology
employed in the program and provides aid to students who are
experiencing difficulty using the required technology.
The institution is expected to document how it ensures that the stu

dents admitted to the program possess the knowledge and equipment
essential to participate in all aspects of the program. This should not be
surprising because modern distance education programs often use
sophisticated technology to deliver course content and maintain student-
faculty interaction. If the institution evaluates applicants’ ability to par
ticipate in Internet-based distance learning, it should include results of

such assessment in the self-study. The university or college should ex
plain in some detail how it addresses the needs of applicants who do
not have the technology-related knowledge and skills. Furthermore, if
the institution has designed a self-instructional program for underpre
pared participants, it should include a description of program content,
its mode of delivery, and evidence regarding its effectiveness. Because
these students often need continuing technical support, the self-study
report should explain what resources were made available, how fre
quently they were used by the target audience, and to what extent they
addressed critical needs.
Facilities and Finances
This section of the guidelines focuses on facilities and finances es

sential to designing a quality program, making it accessible to the in
tended audience, assessing it on a continuing basis, and keeping it up
to date. The accrediting bodies expect to review evidence regarding in
stitutional commitment to quality and effectiveness in all aspects of the
learning environment.
A. The institution possesses the equipment and technical
expertise required for distance education.
The self-study report should include a detailed description of (a)

what equipment is available to offer the distance program; (b) what re
sources have been earmarked to upgrade essential equipment on a reg
ular basis; (c) what technical expertise is available to assist the faculty
in designing, implementing, and assessing the program; and (d) how
the faculty and technical staff work together to ensure an effective and
a coherent learning environment. Simply describing the equipment
and technical expertise is not sufficient. It is essential to document that
the program has the equipment needed to make the program accessible
to the target audience and to help them achieve the expected outcomes.
Similarly, the institution needs to substantiate that faculty members
have continuing access to the technical expertise required to keep their
program both effective and efficient. As noted earlier, the self-study
must document that technical support is available to all students.
Accreditation 215
B. The institution’s long-range planning, budgeting, and policy

development processes reflect the facilities, staffing,
equipment, and other resources essential to the viability and
effectiveness of the distance learning program.
This element of the guidelines focuses on institutional context and

commitment to distance education. Therefore, the self-study should in
clude evidence demonstrating how distance programs both support
and extend the institution’s mission and how the requisite policies and
resources are integrated into the policy framework of the institution as
a whole. Financial and administrative commitment to building and
maintaining the distance education infrastructure must be docu
mented. A recent report (Institute for Higher Education Policy, 2000)
suggests that this documentation should address the following:
1. How faculty are provided professional incentives to explore innovative

course designs aimed at addressing the educational needs of a diverse
student body
2. How the tenure, promotion, and other reward systems have been rede
signed to recognize effective teaching of distance courses
3. What technology plan has been developed to help faculty ensure high
academic standards
4. What security measures are in place to ensure integrity and validity of

information
5. What technical support is available to students for each educational

technology hardware, software, and delivery system required in the
program
6. What articulation and transfer policies have been developed to accept

courses taken by students at other institutions
7. How changes in technology are introduced to ensure maximum benefit

to students and faculty
Most certainly, this is not a comprehensive list of all elements that

need to be addressed to demonstrate that distance programs are inte
gral to the institution’s processes and operations. We have included
these particular items to illustrate the nature of issues that faculty,
administrators, and other members of the program team should keep

in mind as they launch their distance learning programs, monitor their
day-to-day functioning, and assess their effectiveness.
Conclusion
The guidelines that we have used to prepare this chapter were de
veloped in March 1997 by the North Central Association, now called
the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of
Colleges and Schools. Since that time, distance learning has rapidly be
come an increasingly important component of higher education. In
addition to the growing number of colleges and universities, new non
traditional providers are offering distance courses and programs. This
trend is likely to continue. Furthermore, the flexibility of distance in
struction to serve national and international student populations has
created the need for consistency in the principles and procedures used
by the eight regional accrediting commissions in evaluating these activ
ities. Given this need for ensuring cross-regional consistency, the eight
commissions collectively, through the Council of Regional Accrediting
Commissions, contracted with the Western Cooperative for Educa
tional Telecommunication to develop a detailed elucidation of ele
ments that exemplify quality in distance education. This detailed ex
planation has now become available in a document titled Best Practices
for Electronically Offered Degree and Certificate Programs (Council of Re
gional Accrediting Commissions, 2001). The Best Practices document is
now available at the Higher Learning Commission’s Web site (www.
ncahigherlearningcommission.org). All regional commissions are now
using these practices along with their respective accreditation stan
dards to ensure quality in distance instruction. The Best Practices are not
new evaluative criteria, nor are they designed to serve as a checklist
that the site visitors would use to review distance programs. Instead,
these practices should be viewed as methods of formalizing how the
well-established essentials of institutional quality outlined in regional
accreditation standards are applicable to distance instruction. The
availability of this elucidation of elements of quality should be helpful
not only to the accrediting commissions across the country but to dis
tance education providers as well.
Accreditation 217
The accrediting bodies consider this document subject to revision

in light of what is learned in the process of using the available technolo
gies and assessing their effectiveness in fostering student learning.
Given the dramatic pace with which the new technologies continue to
emerge, their instructional uses continue to be developed, and the eval
uation issues continue to surface, it is clear that there will be a continu
ing need to reexamine and revise the Best Practices document. The key
questions, however, will remain the same: What instructional methods
can be used to help students achieve the intended learning outcomes
effectively, and how can the achievement of these outcomes for individ
ual students and for the program as a whole be documented?
Summary Tips
• Collect information in each of the focus areas systematically, and use

technology to maintain the needed records: Preparation for accredita
tion is a continuing process.
• Follow the latest guidelines published by the accrediting agency, and

present specific documentation for the components included in the
guidelines.
• Document how the distance programs both support and extend the in
stitution’s role and mission.
• Explain how the work of other organizations is monitored and evalu

ated to ensure institutional integrity if important elements of a pro
gram are outsourced.
• Describe how students’ characteristics are taken into account in design

ing and implementing the services that they need to achieve the learn
ing outcomes, particularly after reflecting on the continuing increase in
the diversity of the student population.
• Include evidence illustrating how the institution provides program

faculty the support that they need in designing, implementing, and
evaluating distance programs.
• Make other evidence (videotapes, logs of student interactions with

each other and with the instructor, and financial records) not included
in the self-study report available to evaluators during the on-site visit.
• Engage all members of the program team in the self-assessment

process.
• Keep the campus community apprised of the progress of the self-study

efforts and evaluators’ comments during the site visit.
• Use the strategies outlined in Chapters 9 and 10 to substantiate how

student learning is assessed, how program effectiveness is deter
mined, and how the evaluation findings are used to guide program im
provement. The self-study report should be evaluative, rather than
descriptive.
• Provide a developmental picture showing how the program has con

tinued to evolve in view of advances in the substantive areas, instruc
tional methodology, and computer technology.
• Present assessment of distance programs in the context of the institu

tionwide evaluation of academic programs using the inputs, processes,
and outcomes framework.
Although the previous tips provide general suggestions that may

be helpful in preparing for an accreditation review, Tables 11.1 through
11.5 present examples of documentation that may be presented for each
of the focus areas. These examples are not intended to be a comprehen
sive list of all possible ways of providing evidence regarding different
review criteria. Instead, they should be viewed as a starting point from
which to generate new approaches aimed at addressing the underlying
intent of each criterion.
Visit our companion Web site to find links to electronic resources

related to accreditation agencies and their guidelines, publications on
preparation of a self-study report, concept papers on international per
spectives regarding standards, and discussion of quality assurance
issues in the changing field of distance education.
Accreditation 219
TABLE 11.1 Possible Documentation Methods for the Curriculum

and Instruction Criteria
Review Focus Examples of Documentation
Timely and appropriate interaction Sample logs of chat room activity,

between students and faculty and e-mails to instructors, use of toll-free
among students telephone number; sample of video
tapes documenting discussions;
students’ assessment of interactions
in the course
Faculty responsibility for and Curriculum development and

oversight of the course evaluation process; syllabi;
relationship between faculty for
on-campus and distance courses
Technology appropriate to the Technologies and their match to the

nature and objectives of the course/program goals; students have
program access to technologies and have the
knowledge and skills to use them
Currency of materials, programs, Mechanisms and indicators used to

and courses ensure currency; who is responsible
for monitoring program content,
delivery methods, and faculty
preparation
Policies regarding ownership of Faculty handbook; policies regarding

materials, faculty compensation, use of revenues
copyright issues, and use of
revenues
Availability of faculty support Support provided by technology

services support staff, media specialists,
counselors, library staff, distribution
clerks, and site administrators
Training for faculty Selection and training of faculty and

its evaluation
TABLE 11.2 Possible Documentation Methods for the Evaluation and

Assessment Criteria
Assessment of students’ capability Admission criteria used to accept

for admitting them to the program students in the program; summary
tables with information on applicants’
characteristics and decisions made in
each case
Program evaluation Assessment of student learning out

comes, student retention, and student
satisfaction
Integrity of student work and Procedures used to monitor integrity

the credibility of the degrees of students’ work; evidence regarding
the equivalence of alternate modes of
program delivery
TABLE 11.3 Possible Documentation Methods for the Library and

Learning Resources Criteria
Students’ access to library Hands-on training and continuing

resources support provided to students;
evaluation of training and support
Students’ use of learning Analysis of data regarding students’

resources use of the appropriate learning
resources
Laboratories, facilities, and Arrangements made to provide

equipment students with easy access to lab
oratories, facilities, and equipment;
students’ experience with these
resources
Accreditation 221
TABLE 11.4 Possible Documentation Methods for the Student

Services Criteria
Access to student services related Policies and procedures related to

to admissions, financial aid, aca each of the focus areas, how are they
demic advising, delivery of communicated, how are they imple
course materials, and placement mented, and how the institution
and counseling monitors their impact on program
outcomes
Resolving student complaints Records regarding the complaints

received, what they dealt with, when
and how they were addressed, and
who was responsible for addressing
them; what steps were taken to
improve the services that received
large numbers of complaints
Providing students with adequate Explanation of strategies used to

and accurate information regarding make essential information available
the program, requirements, and to prospective learners, how these
available services strategies are assessed, and how the
assessment findings are used to make
the needed modifications and adjust
ments; examples of publicity proce
dures and materials
Students have the knowledge and Methods used to ensure that students
the equipment necessary to use the possess the knowledge and equip-
technology employed in the pro ment; self-instructional program de-
gram and receive assistance if they signed to help students who are not
experience difficulty in using it familiar with the technology used to
deliver the program
TABLE 11.5 Possible Documentation Methods for the Facilities and

Finances Criteria
The institution possesses the Description of the equipment avail

equipment and technical expertise able, the resources earmarked to
required for distance education upgrade the equipment on a regular
basis, and technical expertise avail
able to assist the faculty
Long-range planning, budgeting, Indication of how the distance pro

and policy development processes gram supports and extends institu
reflect the resources essential to the tional role and mission and how the
viability and effectiveness of the needed policies and resources are in
program tegrated into institutional policies;
documentation of the institution’s
financial and administrative
commitment
References
American Association of University Professors. (2000). Distance education and
intellectual property issues [Online]. Washington, DC: Author. Retrieved
April 19, 2001, from the World Wide Web: www.aaup.org/DistncEd.htm
Council of Regional Accrediting Commissions. (2001). Best practices for electron
ically offered degree and certificate programs [Online]. Retrieved April 16,
2001, from the World Wide Web: www.ncahigherlearningcommission.org
Institute for Higher Education Policy. (2000). Quality on the line. Washington,
DC: Author.
North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. (1997). Handbook of accredi
tation (2nd ed.). Chicago: Author.
Phipps, R. A., Wellman, J. V., & Merisotis, J. P. (1998). Assuring quality in distance
learning: A preliminary review. Washington, DC: Council for Higher
Education.
Sumler, D., & Zirkin, B. (1995, Spring). Interactive or non-interactive? That is
the question: An annotated bibliography. Journal of Distance Education,
10(1), 95-112.
Conclusion
D istance education continues to grow at a dramatic

pace. The expansion is driven by several factors, including
• The development of new computer and Internet technologies

• The increasing performance-to-price ratio of available computer tech
nology
• The societal need for more educated and technically sophisticated em
ployees
• The decreasing percentage of traditional-aged college students seeking
higher education
• The emergence of for-profit educational enterprises
Some overly enthusiastic proponents of distance education have pre

dicted the demise or withering of the traditional university or college.
This will not come to pass. The cocurricular elements of a traditional
on-campus undergraduate education (athletics, parties, dormitory life,
223
and theater and musical performances, to name some) cannot be expe

rienced any other way. But as we have seen, not all students seeking
higher education desire, need, or can afford the cost of a traditional col
lege experience. Hence, distance education makes it possible for insti
tutions to fulfill their mission by serving an even wider population of
learners. At the same time, the technology used in distance education
is invigorating the on-campus experience as well. E-mail and Web-
enhanced courses now afford instructors and students alike even more
opportunities for interaction. Effective use of Web sites, chat rooms,
and bulletin boards actually may increase the service that instructors
can provide to students in large classes. Hence, we predict with some
confidence that distance education will develop not as a competitor to
traditional on-campus education but as another facet of it. At the same
time, advances in distance education technology will enliven the on-
campus classroom and provide instructors with even more tools for
creative teaching.
Undoubtedly, new distance technologies will emerge and be com
bined with current ones. For example, as it becomes increasingly inex
pensive to transfer large data files rapidly via the Internet (i.e., as the
cost of increased bandwidth decreases), streaming video of high qual
ity will come into wider use. It combines some of the advantages of
video technology with Web-based technology and provides additional
options for instruction.
The rapid rate at which delivery technology changes influenced
the approach we took in writing this text. Our presentation has concen
trated more on concepts, principles, and methodologies than on spe
cific details about a given piece of equipment or instructional software.
We believe that some of these principles will be more enduring than
specific technologies. We hope that our exposition will help readers in
designing, implementing, and assessing new ways of enhancing stu
dent learning. For us, learning includes engagement with peers and
with the instructor—interaction that is fundamental to the educational
process. Whether students are enrolled in an on-campus course or are
taking the class at a distance, what matters is their engagement in read
ing, writing, discussing, and reflecting—the building blocks of active
learning. It is less important what combination of technologies is used;
what matters is the effectiveness of instructional strategies in fostering
student learning. Although the quality assurance of distance learning
programs tends to rely heavily on assessment of outcomes rather than
Conclusion 225
on processes, outcomes depend on the processes. As we have empha

sized throughout the text, the key ingredients in promoting student
learning are the availability of the instructors and the intellectual en
gagement of the students. Thus, all accrediting agencies expect specific
evidence not only regarding the learning outcomes but also regarding
the interactions among the learners and between the learners and the
instructors.
Distance education inevitably depends on technology for provid
ing access to learning resources, for delivering instruction to learners,
for promoting students’ interaction with each other and with the in
structor, and for facilitating communication between learners and sup
port staff. Therefore, an institution starting a distance education pro
gram must allocate adequate resources for acquiring, maintaining, and
upgrading the technology infrastructure. Also essential is an institu
tional commitment to providing the technical support that faculty and
students need to make effective use of technology. Neither the tech
nology nor user support is inexpensive, although both can be provided
efficiently.
Higher education faculty differ widely in their knowledge of infor
mation technology and in their skill at putting it to work in the class
room. Indeed, a large fraction of today’s college and university instruc
tors received their graduate education when the current technology
was not an integral part of their daily life. This is especially true for fac
ulty members who earned their graduate degrees before the 1980s and
the advent of personal computers. At the same time, the median age of
students who enroll in distance programs is higher than for traditional
on-campus programs: One recent report indicates that 25% of all under
graduate students are over age 30 and that 23% of all graduate students
are over age 40 (National Center for Education Statistics, 1997, Table
175). In addition, many of the nontraditional students are place bound,
do not have access to postsecondary education in their communities,
have not had adequate exposure to technology in high school, and have
limited resources to purchase and maintain a computer and the needed
software.
In light of the above demographics, faculty members teaching a
distance course for the first time need to be provided appropriate train
ing related to both technical and curricular matters. If new technologies
are added at a later date, further training will be required. Similarly,
students must have the needed equipment and training required for a
particular program and continuing access to technical support. With

out such institutional commitment and support, it is simply not feasi
ble for faculty to offer distance courses and for students to achieve the
stipulated learning outcomes.
Distance learning places new demands on the faculty beyond the
technological issues just described. The faculty role changes from being
mainly a content expert to a combination of content expert, learning
process design expert, and process implementation manager (Massy,
1997). The instructor also serves as a mentor, motivator, and interpreter.
In addition, he or she also needs to be an “expert learner” who leads the
learning process by personal example. What are the implications of this
new set of expectations? We have already noted the need for providing
continuing training and support related to technical and curricular
matters. In addition, distance courses usually require instructors to
spend substantial time preparing materials such as the syllabus, study
guide, instructional units, reference lists, links to Web sites, assign
ments, and assessment procedures. Although this is not an exhaustive
list of all the tasks instructors need to perform before they offer a dis
tance course, it indicates the need to plan ahead and to budget ade
quate time in anticipation of making the course available to students at
a distance. Recognizing that development of distance courses requires
substantial time and effort, a number of private and federal agencies of
ten make grant support available for innovative efforts. Because space
constraints do not allow us to discuss grant-seeking strategies, we refer
the interested reader to The Distance Learning Funding Sourcebook
(Krebs, 1999), now in its fourth edition. Most agencies do not fund tech
nology purchases; they fund content development, the curriculum.
The labor-intensive nature of teaching at a distance does not stop
once the course has been designed. It continues once students start tak
ing the course. Given the wide range of differences among learners, the
individualized nature of their interactions with the faculty, and the
need for personalized feedback on their assignments and exams, fac
ulty must allocate adequate time to address student needs throughout
the course. Because faculty members teaching distance courses are ex
pected to maintain contact with all learners; provide students with de
tailed, personalized, and timely feedback; and offer individualized
consultation and guidance, these activities create additional time de
mands. Administrators should take these increased expectations into
consideration when determining class size and teaching load.
Conclusion 227
We have highlighted above some important challenges distance

learning presents to an institution, its administrators, and its faculty.
But why should academia make an effort to address these challenges?
We believe that the underlying motivation is to serve students from dif
ferent social, cultural, economic, and experiential backgrounds who for
one reason or another have not been able to participate in post
secondary education. Although providing increased access to a full
range of students is certainly a worthy goal, the question remains
whether the higher education community has been successful in reach
ing those segments of the population that have been underrepresented
in the past. To the best of our knowledge, the evidence in this regard is
not conclusive. As we reported in Chapter 1 (Figure 1.2), in the United
States only 6% of 2-year private colleges and 22% of 4-year private col
leges offered distance learning courses in 1997-1998. Because many of
these colleges serve a large number of minority populations (all the col
leges located on the Indian Reservations are private 2-year colleges,
and a large number of historically black colleges are private 4-year col
leges), these statistics indicate that many members of minority commu
nities may still have limited access to postsecondary education. A re
cent report from the College Board and the Institute for Higher
Education Policy titled The Virtual University and Educational Opportu
nity: Issues of Equity and Access for the Next Generation (1999) also targets
access as its theme. Focusing primarily on Internet-based distance
learning courses, the report argues that information have-nots are at
a distinct disadvantage when it comes to taking courses online. A ma
jor barrier for those who are underrepresented in higher education—
African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans—is the lack of com
puter or online services both in homes and in schools. The report rec
ommends that government policymakers take steps to ensure equality
in distance learning. Fortunately, a number of initiatives are currently
under way to increase minority students’ access to courses offered via
distance learning.
One possible approach to promoting widespread access is the de
velopment of statewide or regional consortia of traditional institutions
in which several colleges and universities jointly offer distance learn
ing programs. Examples include the Education Network of Maine and
the Southern Regional Electronic Campus. In addition to making edu
cation accessible to larger audiences from a wide geographical area,
such arrangements have the potential to spread the initial development
costs across many individual users. In other words, a collaborative ar

rangement may be an efficient approach for designing and offering dis
tance programs because of the inherent economies of scale. At the time
of this writing, such arrangements are still in their infancy, and hard
data about their effectiveness and efficiency are not available. We do
know, however, that a large number of other such arrangements and
their variations are being developed to offer professional programs in
fields such as engineering, business, nursing, and teacher education.
In addition to the consortia, community public libraries are begin
ning to play an important role in providing increased access to Web-
based courses. Because many academic institutions are providing
learners with access to scholarly journals, monographs, and other full-
text resources in a networked environment, linking the public libraries
with these institutions may make it convenient for place-bound learn
ers to participate in distance programs. Furthermore, library reference
and instructional services are becoming available electronically. In
time, audio and video elements will enhance these services by bringing
together the best aspects of face-to-face and electronic communica
tions. Staff members at many libraries in the United States are explor
ing creative ways of providing learners with reference and research ser
vices electronically. Let us hope that as a result of these efforts, learners
with limited resources will also be able to participate in distance pro
grams of their choice.
Distance education has seen its greatest growth in wealthy, indus
trialized countries. The personal computer revolution and develop
ment of the World Wide Web have the potential to make distance learn
ing truly international; unfortunately, the Third World is now finding
itself on the other side of another wall, this time a digital one. Inter
nationally, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural
Organization’s (UNESCO) Division of Basic Education is supporting
an initiative to bring together nine high-population countries to meet
basic learning needs of those presently lacking access to educational
services, to offer teacher training programs, and to reinforce the quality
and capacity of formal education. In addition to UNESCO’s work, a
number of U.S. universities and colleges are making postsecondary ed
ucation available through cooperative arrangements with institutions
from other countries. The development of high-quality wireless com
munication networks offers even remote areas a chance to access the
Internet, but substantial capital investment will be required to make
Conclusion 229
computers and cell phone technology available to the poorer countries.

For us, distance education will have fulfilled its potential when people
all over the world can access the tools for learning. We trust that that
day does not lie in the distant future.
References
College Board and Institute for Higher Education Policy. (1999). The virtual uni
versity and educational opportunity: Issues of equity and access for the next gen
eration [Online]. Retrieved April 19, 2001, from the World Wide Web:
www.collegeboard.org/policy/html/virtual.html
Krebs, A. (1999). The distance learning funding sourcebook. Dubuque, IA: Kendall/
Hunt.
Massy, W. F. (1997). Life on the wired campus: How information technology
will shape institutional futures. In D. G. Oblinger & S. C. Rush (Eds.), The
learning revolution: The challenge of information technology in the academy.
Bolton, NY: Anker.
National Center for Education Statistics. (1997). Integrated postsecondary edu
cation enrollment, 1995 survey [Online]. Washington, DC: U.S. Depart
ment of Education. Retrieved April 19, 2001, from the World Wide Web:
www.nces.ed.gov/pubs/digest97/d97t175.html
Author Index
Ambrosia, A., 20
Chapman, C., 74
Angelo, T. A., 41, 48, 164

Chickering, A. W., 29, 31, 33, 35, 39,
Artschuld, J. W., 17
43, 47, 49
Astin, A. W., 175

Christian, W., 166
Chung, H., 74
Babbie, E. R., 17
Chyung, Y., 147
Barnes, R. E., 144

Clark, D. D., 84
Biner, P. M., 11, 13

Connick, G. P., 47
Bloom, B. S., 155

Conway, C., 177
Boling, N., 148

Cross, K. P., 41, 48, 164
Borland, J., 79
Bunn, M. D., 144
Davis, D., 189, 190
Dean, R. S., 11, 13
Cambridge, B., 40
DiPaolo, A., 76
Carbajal, J., 116, 118, 119, 131
Dirr, P. J., 116, 148
Carnevale, D., 128, 130
Dringus, L., 142
Carr, K. C., 141
Carr, S., 22, 79, 140, 141, 142
Case, P., 20
Elliot, B., 20
Cerf, V. G., 84
Ewell, P., 155
231
Fast, J., 158

Lords, E., 140
Fenner, J. A., 147

Lovell, C., 148
Fjortoft, N. F., 142

Luedtke, C. B., 142
Freddolino, P., 191

Lynch, D. C., 84
Freeman, H. E., 188
Fullerton, J. T., 141

Massy, W. F., 226
McCollum, K., 148
Gamson, Z. F., 29, 31, 33, 35, 39, 43,

McElhinney, J., 147
47, 49
McHugh, M. K., 141
Gavrin, A. D., 166

Mehrotra, C. M., 45, 184
Gelman, S., 158

Mellinger, A. E., 11, 13
Gibelman, M., 158

Menlove, R., 149
Gomes, J., 139, 143

Merisotis, J. P., 22, 115, 183, 209
Grassian, E., 47
Moore, M., 16
Greer, L. B., 142

Morley, L., 145
Haga, M., 191

Nasseh, B., 147
Hagen, C., 191

Nelson, T., 148
Hait, P., 47
Novak, G. M., 166
Hansford, D., 149
Heitkamp, T., 191

Oliver, W., 148
Hettich, P., 162
Hillocks, G., 40
Paist, E. H., 128, 129, 130, 131
Hudson, L., 142

Parker, A., 142
Hudspeth, D., 158

Patterson, E. T., 166
Patton, M. Q., 187, 188
Jewett, F., 189, 190

Paugh, R., 142
Johnson, D. W., 148

Pauk, W., 47
Johnson, J. L., 145

Phipps, R. A., 22, 115, 209
Johnson, R. T., 148

Postel, J., 84
Jorgensen, M., 140

Potts, M., 191
Powell, R., 177
Kahn, N. B., 47
Kahn, R. E., 84
Ragan, L. C., 155
Kearsley, G., 16
Reisberg, L., 139, 140
Kleinrock, L., 84
Roberts, L. G., 84
Knapczyk, D., 74
Robinson, D. H., 148
Krauth, B., 116, 118, 119, 131

Rodes, P., 74
Krebbs, A., 226

Ross, L., 177
Krueger, R., 18
Rossi, P. H., 188
Rubin, A., 17
LaMaster, K. J., 145

Russell, T. L., 22, 188, 190
Leiner, B., 84
Levin, H. M., 188

Scharf-Hunt, D., 47
Lignugaris-Kraft, B., 149

Schwitzer, A., 148
Lipsey, M. W., 188

Severino, R., 141
Subject Index 233
Shale, D., 139, 143

Winiecki, D. J., 147
Sharkey, J., 47
Wisely, N., 140
Smith, K. A., 148

Witkin, B. R., 17
Sumler, D., 11, 13, 199

Wolff, S., 84
Sutherland, C., 191
Young, J. R., 21, 22, 73, 76, 79
Terrell, S. R., 142
Zajkowski, M. E., 145
Wellman, J. V., 115, 209

Zirkin, B. G., 11, 13, 199
Subject Index
Academic.com, 86
documenting technical ex
Access to distance learning, 227
pertise, 214
Accommodations for student

evaluation and assessment,
disabilities, 128-132
197-198, 204-207, 220
Accreditation:
facilities and finances, 198, 222
common questions to address, 196

faculty, 200, 203
guidelines for electronically offered

faculty-student interaction, 199
programs, 216
financial aid, 210
self-study report topics:

integrity of student work, 206
accuracy of advertising, 213

intellectual property policy, 202
admission criteria, 204

laboratories and equipment,
copyright policy, 202

208-209
course delivery methods, 211

library and learning resources,
currency of materials, 201

198, 207-208, 220
curriculum and instruction,

long range planning, 215
197, 199-204, 219

program credibility, 206
documenting evaluation pro resolving student complaints,
cesses, 205
212
235
student services, 198, 209-214,

Audio tapes, 77-78
221
student use of resources, 208

Blackboard, 86
technical support for

Bobby, 131
students, 213
Bookstore services, 124
use of technology, 200

Bulletin boards: defined, 87
tips regarding, 217

Burning a CD, 83
Accrediting agencies, 195
Active learning techniques, 35-38

Case studies, 41-42
ADA. See Americans with Disabilities

Cassette tapes. See Audio tapes
Act
CD. See Compact disk
Admissions, 119, 204, 213

CDR (recordable compact disk), 83
Adobe Acrobat, 108

CD-ROM (read only compact disk),
Advertising, 213
83, 101
Advising, 121-122, 211

Chat, 75, 106
AHEAD. See Association for Higher

Cheating, 62, 158-159
Education and Disability

Class lists, publicizing, 33
Alumni services, 132-133

Clinical experiences, 37
Americans with Disabilities Act, 62,

Collaboration among students, 148
101, 128
Communication and completion rates,
Applet: defined, 85
145-146
Application to program, 176-177

Community and completion rates, 148
Archipelago, 87
Compact disk, 83
Assessment:
Completion rates:
alignment with learning objectives, and availability of counseling, 147
155
and individual attention, 142-143,
and cheating, 158

145
and discussion, 161

and instructor characteristics, 142
and portfolios, 164-166

and nature of distance education,
and tests, 166-168

143
and writing assignments, 161-164

and pre-admission counseling, 144
as integral part of learning, 156

and student characteristics, 141
diagnostic versus achievement, 167

and support services, 142
integrity of methods, 158

strategies for improving, 144-150
methods, 160-168
Compressed files, 75
monitoring quality of, 159

Computer Adaptive Testing (CAT),
purposes of, 153

168
scheduling/timing, 154
Conferencing, 74-75
student options, 156

Consortia for distance education, 10,
technology, 156
227-228
tips for, 169

Contract for learning, 165
Association for Higher Education Convene.com, 86
and Disability (AHEAD), 130

Copyright issues, 202-203
Asynchronous: defined, 3, 70-72

Correspondence courses, 1, 69, 76
Audience for distance programs, 19-20

Cost analysis, 188-191
Audio conferencing, internet, 75

Counseling, 144, 147
Subject Index 237
Course development, 30, 226

demands on faculty, 226
Course manual/outline/schedule,
growth of, 4-9
53-54
impact on traditional instruction,
Curriculum and instruction

9-11
documentation, 197-204
prevalence in U.S., 4-6
Curriculum development grants, 226

Distance learning. See Distance
education
DE. See Distance education

Distribution costs, 189
Delivery methods:
alternate, 101-103
Electronic files, 82-83
and accreditation self-study, 211

Electronic mail. See E-mail
asynchronous:
E-mail (electronic mail), 31, 42, 85
audio tapes, 77
ERIC database, 44-45
percentage use of, 6

Evaluation/grading, 48, 62-64
printed materials, 76-77

Exams. See Tests
radio and television broadcast, 82

Expectations, communicating, 47-49
telephone, 79
videocassette recording, 79-82

Facilities and finances, 198, 214-216
synchronous:
Facsimile transfer (fax) as delivery
chat, 75
method, 73, 79
interactive television (ITV), 73 Faculty support services, 203
74
FAQ. See Frequently asked questions
internet conference, 74-75

Fax. See Facsimile transfer
percentage use of, 6

Feedback, 37-40, 42, 146-147
telephone, 73
File transfer, 85
two-way radio, 72
Financial aid services, 120-121
web-based, 86
Focus groups, 18
Delivery mode, role in marketing, 15,

Frequently asked questions (FAQ),
20
24, 61
Delivery technology, 6, 97-98, 104
Demographics, student, 225

Gateway: defined, 85
DEOS. See Distance Education Online

Grant support for curriculum
Symposium
development, 226
Diagnostic learning log, 48

Graphics formats, 108
Digital audio files, 78

Guidelines for distance learning,
Digital video files, 81

197-199
Discussion, 32, 34, 42, 161
Disk mounter, 83
HTML or HTM. See Hypertext mark
Distance Education Online
up language
Symposium (DEOS), 87
Hypertext mark-up language
Distance education or distance

(HTML), 86
learning:
access to, 227

Information meetings, 18
costs of, 12
Instructional design, role in
criticisms of, 11-13

marketing, 15, 20
defined, 1
Intellectual property policies, 202
Interaction among students, 33-35

Netscape Communicator Conference,
Interaction, faculty-student, 11, 22-23,

75
31-32, 104, 199

Netscape Navigator, 85
Interactive television (ITV), 3, 64, 73-74

Network: defined, 84
Internet conferencing, 74
Internet service provider (ISP), 85

On-site sessions, 34
Internet: defined, 84-85

Optical storage media, 82-83
Interviews in program evaluation, 179

Oxford Text Archive, 130
ISP. See Internet service provider
ITV. See Interactive Television

Papers, 40, 162-164
Plagiarism, 62, 158-159
Journals as assessment tool, 161-162

Plug-in, 85
Just in Time Teaching, 166

Portable document format (pdf), 92,
100, 108
Portfolios, 40-41, 164-166
Laboratories, 64, 74, 208
Printed materials, 76-77
Language instruction, 73
Production costs, 189
Learning objectives in syllabus, 65-66
Program characteristics, evaluating,
Learning outcomes:
178-179
equivalence of traditional and

Program effectiveness, relating costs
distance delivery, 22
to, 190-191
role in selecting delivery methods,

Program evaluation:
96-97
cost analysis, 188-191
taxonomies for, 155

data analysis, 186-187
Learner satisfaction, evaluating, 184 delivery format, 179-181
188
goal, 173
Learning styles, 49-50

inputs, 176-179
Library services:
IPO model, 174-176
and accreditation self-study, 207-209

outcomes, 174, 181-188
guidelines for DE programs, 198

processes, 180-181
providing, 124-126
tips for, 192-193
Listserv. See Listserver

Programmed learning, 167
Listservers: defined, 87
Project Gutenberg, 130
Logs. See Journals
Long range planning, 215
Radio broadcasts, 82
Radio, two-way, 72
Magnetic storage media, 82-83

Read-only compact disk. See CD-ROM
Management information system

RealAudio format, 78
(MIS), 180
Recordable compact disk. See CDR
Marketing strategies, 23-27

Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic,
Microsoft Internet Explorer, 85

130
Microsoft NetMeeting, 75
Recruiting students, 15-28
MIS. See Management Information

Registration services, 122-123
System
Retention, 140-143, 183-184
MP3 format, 78
Router: defined, 85
Subject Index 239
Self-study report, 199

technology used, 57-58
Self-tests, 41, 167

tips regarding, 67-68
Server: defined, 85
Synchronous: defined, 3, 70-72
Simulations, 42
Streaming audio, 78
Teams for learning, 35, 37-38
Streaming video, 75
Technical support, 102, 126-127, 147,
Student services:
213-214
and accreditation self-study, 209-214

Technology:
and guidelines for distance

and assessment, 156
learning, 198
and plagiarism, 158-159
Study skills, orientation for effective,

documenting appropriate use of,
44-47
200-201
Support costs, 189-190

timeline of use in distance
Support services:
education, 2
academic advising, 121-122

user support and completion rates,
admissions, 119-120
147
alumni, 133
Telephone, 31-32, 73, 79
bookstore, 124
Television broadcasts, 82
career, 133
Term papers. See Papers
financial aid, 120-121

Tests and testing, 130-131, 166-168
for students with disabilities, 128 Time management:
132
instructor, 30
library, 124-126
student, 43-47
registration, 122-123
Transparent delivery, 99-101
suggestions for providing, 135-136

Tutoring services, 127
technical, 126-127
tutoring, 127
Video conferencing, 73-74
Surveys for program need and

Video formats, 81
demand, 16-17
Videocassette recordings, 79-81
Syllabus:
ADA statement and, 62

Web browser: defined, 85
as course home page on web, 67

Web-based courses: defined, 9
assignment schedule, 65
WebCT, 86
course identifiers, 56
Web-enhanced courses, 9, 12-13
course materials list, 58-59

Western Governors’ University, 10
defined, 53-56
Western Interstate Commission for
disseminating, 66-67
Higher Education (WICHE), 116,
evaluation and grading, 62-64

147, 196
help with coursework, 59-60

Whiteboard, 75-76, 86
instructor information, 57
WICHE. See Western Interstate Com
learning objectives, 66
mission for Higher Education
outline, 56-66
policies and legal issues, 61-62

Zip disk, 83
About the Authors
Chandra Mohan Mehrotra is Professor of Psychology and Dean for

Special Projects at The College of St. Scholastica. He is a Fellow of the
American Psychological Association and is the recipient of several
awards for teaching and service. He is a Consulting Editor for Teaching
of Psychology and serves on the editorial board of Educational Gerontol
ogy. He has published numerous articles, edited Teaching and Aging
(1984), coauthored Aging and Diversity (1998), and served as guest edi
tor for a special issue of Educational Gerontology (1996). He has designed
distance learning courses in introductory statistics, research methods,
program evaluation, and aging and diversity and provided leadership
in the development of a master of education program that is offered via
distance learning. He has presented papers and symposia on distance
learning at annual meetings of the American Psychological Associa
tion, the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, and the
Gerontological Society of America. His activities related to teaching
improvement, faculty development, and program evaluation have
been supported by major grants from the National Science Foundation,
241
the Bush Foundation, the Blandin Foundation, and the Kellogg Foun
dation. He is currently directing a research training program for psy
chology faculty, with support from the National Institute on Aging in
the National Institutes of Health.
C. David Hollister is Professor in the School of Social Work at the Uni

versity of Minnesota. Since 1993, he has been actively involved in the
development and accreditation of the school’s master of social work
distance education program, and he teaches distance courses on com
munity practice methods and on substance abuse. He has published a
number of articles evaluating distance education and has presented
papers on distance education at meetings of the Council on Social Work
Education, at the annual University of South Carolina Conference on
Educational Technology in Social Work, and at international confer
ences. He is Associate Secretary General for the Inter-University Con
sortium for International Social Development and is a member of the
editorial board of Social Development Issues. In addition to distance edu
cation, his research interests include the evaluation of welfare reform,
the evaluation of substance abuse treatment, and the use of geographic
information systems in neighborhood revitalization. His research and
teaching activities have been supported by the Blandin Foundation, the
Joyce Foundation, the Bush Foundation, and the National Institute on
Alcohol Addiction and Abuse.
Lawrence McGahey is Associate Professor, Chair of the Chemistry

Department, and Chair of the Natural Sciences Division at The College
of St. Scholastica. He has been involved in the development of St.
Scholastica’s distance education program as a member of the Graduate
Council and Graduate Curriculum Committee. In addition, he has
experience in developing and incorporating Web-based instructional
materials into science courses. His research and teaching efforts have
been supported by the National Science Foundation, the Research Cor
poration, and the U.S. Department of Education. He is also a manu
script reviewer and annotator for the Journal of Chemical Education.

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Distance Learning:

Principles for Effective

Sage Publications, Inc.

2455 Teller Road

Thousand Oaks, California 91320

Sage Publications Ltd.

London EC2A 4PU

Sage Publications India Pvt. Ltd.

New Delhi 110 048 India

Printed in the United States of America

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.

ISBN 0-7619-2088-9 (c) — ISBN 0-7619-2089-7 (p)

1. Distance education—Curricula. 2. Education, Higher—Curricula.

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Acquisition Editor: Jim Brace-Thompson

Background and Audience x

Overview of the Contents xi

Our Companion Web Site xii

1. Distance Education: What Is It?

And Why Is It Expanding So Rapidly? 1

Impacts of Technology on Distance Education 2

The Prevalence of Distance Education in the United States 4

Societal Changes Contributing to the

Growth of Distance Education 6

The Impact of Distance Education on Traditional Instruction 9

Criticisms of Distance Education 11

2. Attracting Students to Distance Learning 15

How to Assess the Need and Demand for a

Instructional Design and Mode of Delivery 20

Strategies for Marketing Distance Courses and Programs 21

Specific Ideas for Promoting and Marketing

3. Good Practices in Distance Education:

How to Promote Student Learning and

The Good Practices 31

4. The Syllabus for Distance Learning Courses 53

More Than a List 55

Outline for a Syllabus: Putting It Together 56

5. Delivery Methods for Distance Education 69

Synchronous Delivery Methods 72

Asynchronous Delivery Methods 76

6. Selecting Delivery Methods 95

Fundamental Principles to Observe in

Selecting Delivery Methods 96

A Decision Tree Approach to Selecting a Delivery Method 105

7. Support Services 115

Support Services Prior to Enrollment 118

Support Services for Enrolled Students 124

Support Services After Course or Program Completion 132

8. Ensuring High Completion Rates 139

The Problem of Retention 140

Retention in Distance Education Programs 140

Strategies for Improving Completion Rates 144

Summary Tips 149

9. Assessing Learning Outcomes 153

Guiding Principles 154

Methods of Assessment 160

Summary Tips 169

10. Program Evaluation 173

Evaluating Program Inputs 176

Program Processes 179

Assessing Outcomes 181

Analysis of Costs and Outcomes 188

I n preparing this book, we have drawn on the ideas, theo

Although many institutions consider distance education a means of ex

Chapter 1 defines distance education and examines why many institu

including a discussion of strategies for improving communication, pro

Given the continuing growth of new knowledge regarding different as

In the 20th century, the gradually accelerating pace of technological in

vision, microwave transmission, video recording, and satellite trans

More recently has come the widespread adoption of fully inter

Meanwhile, by the mid-1990s, the digital revolution had devel

Likewise, the number of degree programs offered through dis

1. The increased requirements for higher education for career advance

3. The growing market for personal fulfillment courses driven by in

5. The growing requirement in many professions that members take ad

6. The emphasis that many employers today place on specific compe

9. The need for greater flexibility in providing educational access to stu

Distance education is changing traditional classroom instruction it

Several objections are often raised concerning distance education, a fre

Some see distance programs as a potential threat to their institu

Figure 2.1. Marketing’s Relation to Other Components of Distance Educa

In short, initially delivering just a few courses enables the institu

in today’s society. Expanding community libraries’ public Internet fa